


Into the Night

by Papillon87



Series: Freefall [1]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood Drinking, Fluff, M/M, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Outrage is warranted and - frankly - expected, Sexual Content, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-08-19 11:42:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20209156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papillon87/pseuds/Papillon87
Summary: Nobody changed completely the moment they turned from being human into being a monster.Minhyuk liked to think there was a part of him left that belonged to him, and to him only, that he kept a part of himself intact - a piece of the old Minhyuk that was his and never Jinwoo’s, in any way.........................





	1. Chapter 1

Finally, he found him.

Crouched on a rooftop and rendered almost invisible by the inky darkness, he had a perfect view of the deserted alley below. His prey would be an easy target now. Streetlamps were few and far in between in these parts and people who had any common sense left didn’t venture out alone after sunset. Not around here.

Two weeks.

It took him two weeks of loitering around and killing time, mind going blank with boredom, until he saw him again.

Minhyuk curled up in a tight ball, all muscles taut, and felt his fangs run out.

The boy stumbling on the cobblestones below him was nervous. He could hear his heart thrumming like a drum, fast and desperate, the thumping of his blood sweet like a drug. Unbearably tempting.

It would be so simple to leap down noiselessly and pin him against the wall, to sink his fangs into the tender flesh. Fast and neat, he knew the human would be no match to his speed and strength. Nobody would hear a gasp in the shadowy corner, the tearing of flesh, the hungry gulps that would follow. Minhyuk’s hand clasped over the boy’s mouth like an iron glove to muffle his cries, there would be no sound apart from the swift crack of a broken neck towards the end. The only proof that something had happened here in the dark hours would the body found in the morning – drained dry and lifeless.

Minhyuk never left his victims dying after he sated his thirst. If he wasn’t able to drink enough to kill, he preferred ending their ordeal quickly. Despite the bloodlust, despite being who he was, he didn’t relish the terror he saw in the eyes of his prey. That fleeting moment of wild panic after they realised this was the end and before he ended their misery.

Nobody, he found, changed that much the moment they were turned from being human into a monster. During his two hundred years – which wasn’t that much by vampire standards, although he wasn’t a newborn either – Minhyuk had witnessed his maker turning Myungjun into his new brother. They had met while the bright and cheerful man was still human and Minhyuk had watched him falling in love with Jinwoo. He had seen them both agonising over the dilemma until they reached the decision to turn Myungjun into an immortal.

His brother used to be like sunshine whilst human. Jinwoo loved calling him that, despite the irony. After turning, once the initial senseless bloodlust had faded, Myungjun emerged the same dazzling self, his beautiful smile rendered immortal and even more alluring by the transformation. He still made them all laugh; he could pull Jinwoo out of his dark moods that clouded his calm demeanour sometimes and used to made Minhyuk feel small and lonely. Myungjun was his brother now but deep down he always stayed the same, human or immortal.

Minhyuk liked to think that his shying away from cruelty had something to do with the fact that even while human, he used to hate seeing anyone suffer. He was clinging to it, to this personality trait that belonged to him only and had nothing to do with his new, immortal self. It meant he had kept a part of himself intact, a piece of the old Minhyuk that was _his_ and never Jinwoo’s, in any way.

Despite keeping certain things private, away from Jinwoo’s probing questions, he loved his maker. Jinwoo had saved him while Minhyuk was fighting smallpox, the epidemic having killed his whole family. As a child, Minhyuk had heard the rumours about vampires, had listened to stories about bloodsuckers who sometimes didn’t kill their victims but created immortals instead. When Jinwoo had found him in their hut, the bodies of his parents and older brothers already cold in the small, shabby room – after the first moment of horror, he had begged the small, slender vampire with strangely kind eyes to save him from death. The decision had been made in a delirium, it hadn’t been thought through – but Minhyuk didn’t regret anything.

Told himself not to regret anything.

Some things, some what-ifs, were best left alone.

He always killed his human prey fast though. Not looking too much into their eyes. Not giving them a chance to beg for something they had no idea about. It was better this way. Gentler. Kinder.

Lonely.

The kill wasn’t a necessity when feeding. Jinwoo wasn’t overly fond of it; he much preferred to pull his prey under a spell, to hypnotise them with his gaze, with his presence – whatever the charm was called – and leaving his victims alive after he fed, never drained enough to die. Myungjun shared his sentiment, arguing that if the charming was done thoroughly, the humans didn’t remember much after they woke up.

Minhyuk knew it made sense but he didn’t have it in him to agree.

‘You are hardly being objective, Jinwoo. This is how you found Myungjun – and suddenly, after one feed, you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants and your hunts simple. I don’t want this. It’s not safe. Not everyone is Myungjun. Someone might pretend to be enjoying it,’ it was no secret that there were enough people that got off while being bitten, ‘but knowing my luck it would be a vampire hunter and I would end up with a silver dagger in my heart. No, thank you. I prefer a clean, fast kill right after the feed.’

Tonight, however, he was stalling.

The heartbeat below him was like music – sweet, pulling him under, a magnet so strong he could hardly think.

Pulling _him_ under, for goodness’ sake.

Maybe he should end it really fast tonight – before he went completely crazy.

The scent was getting stronger as he closed the distance between him and the prey. He slowed down and hovered above the tall figure staggering slowly down the alley.

‘Binnie?’

Minhyuk pulled back as the boy turned around, scanning the empty street. His movements were unsteady, one hand leaning against the wall to steady himself.

‘Binnie? I'm so sorry, I didn’t mean it. Please, come back. Binnie. Where are you?’

Your boyfriend is not going to help you, gorgeous, thought Minhyuk with a certain amount of _schadenfreunde_. Bin is not here.

Minhyuk first saw Dongmin two weeks ago. He almost fainted from lust as he caught the sweet scent for the first time, perched on the roof across the street from one of the clubs downtown, watching people leave. Dongmin and Bin were amongst them. He learned their names within minutes; it seemed the somewhat run down establishment was their favourite haunt and almost everyone knew them there. By the time the pair separated from their seamlessly never-ending stream of friends, saying their goodbyes, Minhyuk abandoned the idea of simply jumping down from the roof and feasting on the boy’s blood, no matter what.

Slowly does it. He would simply wait until Dongmin was alone.

He watched Bin staggering down the street, holding Dongmin’s hand and laughing, stealing kisses from him every time the lights from the few streetlamps around couldn’t reach them.

He watched as they both disappeared into a dark alleyway, their footsteps slowing down as they kissed with more urgency, whispers turning into raggedy breaths.

After that, he didn’t want to watch anymore but couldn’t help himself. Growing painfully hard, he stared as Bin pinned Dongmin against the wall, pulled down the zipper on his jeans and slid his hand inside.

It was impossible not to look, the pleasure transforming Dongmin’s face into something impossibly ethereal, unreal. The column of his throat pulsed faster, the scent getting stronger; Minhyuk could smell sweat, lust - both Dongmin’s and Bin’s. For some reason, smelling the two scents together, so close, completely and utterly intertwined, made him angry.

He only wanted Dongmin’s scent. He only wanted him.

Fangs run out, he gripped the ledge so hard the concrete started crumbling. Couple of small pieces broke off and fell down, ricocheting loudly off the walls. Shocked, he quickly crouched lower.

Has he blown his cover?

He didn’t dare to look; it would be really bad timing to arouse their suspicion now. Soon they would be parting ways and then Minhyuk’s opportunity would come.

He focused on the sounds below.

Sagging with relief, he realised the oblivious fools didn’t notice anything at all. If anything, Dongmin’s panting was getting louder, interrupted only by Bin’s kisses. Minhyuk tried not to groan together with every one of Dongmin’s shaky breaths.

Without warning, the sweet scent of the boy’s blood grew stronger. Out in the open, without constraints, no skin and delicate veins separating it from his heightened senses anymore. One of Bin’s kisses must have drawn blood and Minhyuk felt his sanity slipping. He forced himself to stay still though, every second painfully slow, every frantic beat of Dongmin’s heart felt deep in his groin.

When they finally emerged from the darkness onto the main road, better lit and lined with small shops and restaurants - now closed and with theirs shutters down - he could barely wait for the awkward goodbyes and their walking in opposite direction.

None of it came. Instead, he saw Bin curling into Dongmin’s side and Dongmin burying his face into Bin’s hair.

‘Your hands are sticky, Binnie. Gross. You are all sticky. I’ll make you a bath when we get home,’ Dongmin chuckled and Minhyuk’s heart would have skipped an unpleasant beat if he had any.

No functioning heartbeat at hand, he watched Dongmin pressing kisses to Bin’s temple and listened to their heartbeats slowing down, to their breathy laughs and sweet whispers.

The trail of their scents was wrapping its tendrils around him, maddening in its pull, beautiful in its… What? Wholeness?

Sweat, blood, come, love.

Suddenly, Minhyuk felt like crying. He didn’t want to kill Dongmin anymore. By killing Dongmin he would never smell that beautiful scent again.

He turned and started running away.

Instead of Dongmin, another random victim died swiftly that night, a girl who was one of the last ones to leave the club, happily drunk, barely noticing Minhyuk landing softly in front of her as she turned into a poorly lit side street.

As he sunk his fangs into the girl's throat, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to conjure Dongmin’s image instead. With every mouthful he swallowed he wanted to picture the boy underneath him, pain and pleasure contorting his face, his body arching against his own, meeting him in the middle.

With every mouthful he failed.

It was over quickly; the angry, hurried gulps didn’t soothe his thirst but took the edge off it at least.

On his return home, the front door bore the brunt of his frustration as he slammed it behind him so hard it almost fell off its hinges.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jinwoo shouted at him from the living room. ‘I thought you went hunting. Don’t tell me you have skipped again!’

He appeared in the doorway. ‘I told you - you need to feed at least once a month, otherwise the hunger gets too much and you will go crazy and do some stupid shi-‘

He stopped talking and took in Minhyuk’s flushed cheeks, his changed pupils, the dilated blackness gone. ‘You fed tonight.’

‘I did.’ Minhyuk shrugged, avoiding Jinwoo’s concerned eyes.

‘Hyuk,’ Jinwoo grabbed his wrist. ‘Don’t do this. It’s not like you to be _this_ angry. Did something happen while you were hunting?’

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Minhyuk shook off Jinwoo’s hand. ‘I swear I didn’t get myself into anything dangerous tonight; I wasn’t followed on my way home. I just don’t feel like talking right now.’

‘Hey, brother,’ emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of lavender-scented steam, Myungjun smiled at him. ‘The rosy tint on your cheeks becomes you.’

‘Oh, shut up, Junnie,’ despite growling, Minhyuk instantly felt better after looking into Myungjun’s serene face. ‘Please, tell Jinwoo to take you to bed and… you know… He has been too nosy and I don’t like it. He needs a a distraction.’

Had he been able to blush, his cheeks, pink from feeding, would have grown even hotter. He always found it embarrassing to talk about sex, unlike Jinwoo and Myungjun – but desperate times called for desperate measures.

‘Ooh, the baby is grumpy. Darling,’ Myungjun turned to Jinwoo and smirked seductively, ‘come and fuck me senseless. Let’s enjoy the new mattress I bought today and give the child the much needed space to calm down.’

‘You bought a new mattress? Again?’ Jinwoo stared incredulously while Minhyuk seized the opportunity and started sneaking away.

‘Of course I did, darling. I had to – after yesterday. ‘

Judging by the tone of Myungjun’s voice, the expired mattress related to some bed shenanigans Minhyuk wanted to know nothing about. He nearly managed to tiptoe to his bedroom when, as fast as lightning, Myungjun blocked his way.

‘I think we need to talk, baby brother.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Twitter [@papillon8776](https://twitter.com/papillon8776) if you want to shout at me!


	2. Chapter 2

‘I really think we should talk, Hyuk. Come on, baby brother.’

Leaning against the doorframe, Myungjun blocked Minhyuk’s way.

He tried to push his brother aside, in vain. ‘Go away, Junnie. Jinwoo’s waiting. And stop calling me baby brother; I’m older than you.’

Myungjun merely smiled, pulled him into the room and shut the door.

‘Jinwoo can wait. He had an eternity to practise; he can manage ten more minutes. And I might be younger than you in vampire years,’ Myungjun was only eighty compared to Minhyuk’s two hundred years, ‘but you were turned when you were practically a baby. So my point stands.’

‘Twenty is not a baby,’ Minhyuk plopped himself on the bed, face sullen.

‘Have you ever kissed anybody?’ Myungjun sat down next him, scooted closer.

‘What?’ Completely nonplussed, Minhyuk stared at his brother’s calm face. ‘What does kissing have to do with… with anything?’

Myungjun’s gaze didn’t waver. ‘Have you ever fucked anyone? Human or otherwise?’

‘What?’ Minhyuk’s voice rose by nearly an octave. ‘It’s none of your business!’

Unperturbed by the outburst, Myungjun smiled gently, ‘I think it has much to do with everything. Just hear me out. Ok?’

‘Whatever.’ Minhyuk pointedly stared out of the window. It was nearly the time to pull down the blackout blinds; the dawn was close.

‘Hyuk. I know it feels… good when you feed.’

Minhyuk shuffled his feet in embarrassment, stubbornly avoiding Myungjun’s gaze. He knew what his brother meant. Remembered the countless times when he returned home sated in more than one way.

Because it felt good. Feeding, inhaling the warm scent of the human skin, so soft and pliant under him. Feeling the blood swelling in his mouth with every one of their heartbeats. He felt ashamed how blissed out he stumbled home sometimes, when the scent had been something else, more alluring than others, when he got back from a hunt not only full with fresh blood but also with his boxers unpleasantly sticky.

‘I know sometimes it feels better than usual. Some blood is like that, more potent, sweeter.’

‘And?’

‘And nothing. Have you ever done more than feeding with one of the humans you hunted down?’

‘I told you it’s none of your fucking business.’

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Myungjun rolled his eyes in a dramatic manner. ‘Do you need any help? As in, do we need to have _the_ talk?’

‘What? What talk?’

‘About sex?’

Minhyuk groaned. ‘Junnie! For fuck’s sake! I might have lived two hundred years ago but I grew up on a farm! Everything and everybody fucked as best as they could. Cows, dogs, pigs. People. There was nothing else to do after all the work was done. And we all lived in one room. My parents, my two older brothers. I know how my dick works!’

‘Oh, ok. Sorry about that.’ Myungjun huffed our an embarrassed laugh. ‘I guessed I grew up in a different era, when grown ups used to pretend sex didn’t exist.’

He sighed and inched closer, wrapped one arm around Minhyuk and squeezed gently. ‘I feel bad that we’ve never talked about stuff like this before. I mean I always say outrageous things when I’m around Jinwoo – and it feels ok. I'm never embarrassed when I’m with him; I love him so much, Hyukkie. But I’ve never thought of asking you whether you have ever had anybody. Anybody you felt close to. I know that you and Jinwoo were never lovers – but I’ve never thought of asking anything beyond that. I’m sorry.’

‘Why should you be sorry? I’ve never been with anyone but I don’t mind. I know Jinwoo only turned me because he was lonely - he did tell me that - but I like living with him; he is kind and he takes care of me; I love him as my maker. I’m happy to have you as my brother. That’s all – simple as that. I like my life now; I got used to it. I go hunting; I feed. Sometimes I get off by doing that and it feels great. I don’t need anything else. I don’t need anybody else.’

A glint of something mischievous flashed in Myungjun’s eyes, ‘And tonight? What was _that_ about?’

‘What do you mean?’ The words sounded wobbly even to him, like he was treading on very thin ice now.

‘That massive boner I saw when you got home. You must have found someone truly tasty. What happened? You were so pissy, the door almost didn’t survive it. Did you get interrupted? Another vampire, a stronger one? Or was it a claimed human? No,’ he added almost as an afterthought, ‘if you as much as groped a claimed human, you would have been dead by now. What happened tonight, Hyuk? Because I think,’ he gave Minhyuk a tiny wink, ‘you need to get laid – and pronto. Or at least to have a _really __nice __dinner_.’

Minhyuk didn’t really like the way Myungjun emphasised the last words.

A wave of tiredness washed over him. Suddenly, he wanted to talk; he longed to lean against Myungjun’s shoulder and cry; the feeling of loneliness was so overpowering.

‘I saw someone tonight. He is so beautiful, Junnie, you can't even imagine. And he smells so good. But he was with his boyfriend. And I didn’t want to kill him too; it would have been impossible to drain the two of them and it seemed so pointless to kill them both. So I let them go.’

‘Oh, sweetheart. You are too nice to be a vampire.’

‘Shut up.’

‘I have an idea.’ With his signature inability to admit defeat, Myungjun turned to him, face eager. ‘Just linger around for the next couple of weeks. He’ll turn up; people are creatures of habit. Then you’ll have a nice meal.’

‘I don’t… I don’t think I want to kill him though,’ whispered Minhyuk unhappily.

‘Ah.’ Something softer flashed in Myungjun’s eyes. ‘Well, then charm him a bit and have a nibble. I’m not as militant about the ‘no killing after feeding’ rule as Jinwoo is - but it does work better sometimes. Just don’t lose control; if you go crazy and drain him too much, he won’t survive. Self-control is the key if you want to keep him for later.’

The way Myungjun talked about Dongmin, as if he was a piece of meat on a plate, grated on Minhyuk all of a sudden.

‘Stop talking about him like he is… like he is…’

‘Like he is a snack? Well, he is, Hyukkie. Unless you want him to become something more.’

The look Myungjun gave him made Minhyuk’s skin crawl. His brother merely cocked his head at his glare.

‘You know what I mean, sweetheart. Have you considered making him into your feeder?’

Minhyuk had been around for long enough to know that there could be an arrangement between vampires and humans. Some people enjoyed being bitten; some vampires preferred to feed from a willing human. Around the city, there were places where interested parties could meet and satisfy their respective needs, with no need for bodies behind dumpsters in the morning and police combing the area for the next week or so.

Personal feeders, one step above the casual exchange of blood for a bit of pleasure, were not as rare as it sounded either. In a way, it was a safer arrangement, often lasting for years. One human to rely on for the supply of fresh blood, the exclusivity was agreed, both sided benefiting from the covenant – although it was no more than that, a mutually beneficial agreement, a deal.

The closest to a real relationship a vampire could have with a human was to claim someone. Minhyuk didn’t particularly liked the term, it smacked too much of one-sided possessiveness, but Jinwoo gently explained that the term itself was an ancient one – and very often more true than not.

‘You forget, Hyukkie, that no matter how much you might think you love someone human, no matter how eager they are to share everything – blood and body – their life span is a mere blink of an eye for us. So we claim – for the time being. It shows commitment on our side, not only theirs. It shows that we are serious about the relationship. That they are ours and we will take care of them.’

Minhyuk softened after he had seen the change in Jinwoo when Myungjun agreed to be _his_. He had seen that it had not been a mere claim to show that Myungjun belonged only to him, that he wasn’t to be bitten or fucked by anyone else.

Minhyuk had seen the love.

Now, listening to his brother’s musing, his fangs ran out at the thought of having Dongmin just for himself. To be able to have something similar Jinwoo and Myungjun shared. With the last shreds of his willpower, he calmed down and pierced Myungjun with a hard stare.

‘Don’t you think he should have a say in something like that? We haven’t even met yet and you are talking about him becoming my personal feeder.’

He didn’t admit that in his head, he imagined more. He saw Dongmin to be _his_.

Myungjun giggled. ‘And whose fault is it, sweetheart, that you haven’t met yet? Go out tomorrow and wait. And the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. You’ll find him eventually. Charm him a little, sink your pretty fangs into him, see how he reacts. Who knows,’ Myungjun leaned closer and whispered into Minhyuk’s ear. ‘He might like it.’

‘I don’t know,’ he hung his head unhappily. ‘I don’t really want to charm him when we meet. I want him to…’ he trailed off miserably, aware how stupid he sounded, how naïve.

‘Oh, sweetheart,’ Myungjun gave his shoulder a tight squeeze. ‘You want him to like you for what you are?’

Minhyuk blanched at the amount of pity in his brother’s voice.

‘It doesn’t usually work that way; you know it doesn’t.’ Myungjun’s smile grew a little sadder, his grip on Minhyuk’s shoulder tighter. ‘You should know by now that people generally don’t like us, to put it mildly. Might have something to do with the fact we see them as dinner, don’t you think?’

He shrugged, looking at the tips of Myungjun’s polished shoes. His brother still dressed as if he lived in the fifties. ‘It worked out for you and Jinwoo though.’

‘But I used to like being bitten even before I met him; you know that.’

Jinwoo made no secret of the fact that him and Myungjun had met in one of the clubs where dancing and a having a couple of drinks wasn’t the main pull. Places where blood was a commodity many times more precious than anything on the wine list, offered discreetly in quiet corners and private back rooms, the comings and goings of willing volunteers tolerated by the owners, as long as the customers seeking this kind of pleasure caused no trouble and all parties left the premises alive and in one piece.

‘Baby!’ Jinwoo’s whiny voice rang desperate from his bedroom. ‘Is this your new idea of foreplay? Letting me wait until I go crazy?’

Myungjun snickered.

‘Darling,’ he called out, the tone teasing. ‘What you’re gonna see will be worth all the wait. I’m coming!’

He jumped up and, wriggling his eyebrows, he lifted up his shirt a little. Peeking above the waist of his jeans were black lacy knickers.

Minhyuk burst out laughing but the moment of hilarity was short-lived. He looked at his brother, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

‘What should I do, Junnie?’

Myungjun’s smile grew mischievous. ‘Find the pretty boy and stare him down; let’s see how irresistible you really are. See if you can have a drink without killing him. It would be a nice change after all the bodies you usually leave behind. And who knows,’ he winked at Minhyuk’s gloomy face, ‘he might enjoy it more than you think. Humans are so wonderfully unpredictable.’

………………………..

Two weeks later, hovering on the roof above Dongmin’s unsteady footsteps, he could hardly contain himself.

‘Binnie?’

The hollow echo of Dongmin’s terrified voice sounded like the sweetest music in the empty street. Minhyuk steeled himself and looked below, measured the distance. Waited until Dongmin got closer.

Now.

He jumped down, the movement smooth, perfected by years of practice.

Once he made up his mind, it was almost too easy to slide into the hunt mindset.

‘Hey,’ he smiled.

For a moment, Dongmin stood frozen like a deer in the headlights, then spun around and ran.

Minhyuk laughed out loud, the thumping of Dongmin’s blood clouding his mind in a wonderfully thrilling fog. In three leaps, he overtook him and blocked Dongmin’s escape route.

‘Hello again.’

He enjoyed the other’s dilated pupils, the bitter smell of his sweat. The panicked gasps. The vein pulsing in Dongmin’s throat, the tiniest hint of blue under the milky whiteness of his skin.

Dongmin tried again. He tore away desperately but this time, Minhyuk didn’t waste any more time. Fast as lightning, he grabbed Dongmin’s arm and spun him around.

‘Not so fast.’

He pushed Dongmin against the wall, holding his gaze. The horror in the beautiful brown eyes was not pleasant but there was no time to contemplate that as Dongmin aimed a kick at his groin. Minhyuk merely smiled at the feeble attempt. Pressing harder, he crushed Dongmin under his weight, pinning his arms against the brickwork.

Dongmin thrashed under him.‘ Let go off me, sucker!’

Minhyuk didn’t react, simply increased the pressure. Dongmin’s scent was overwhelming by now, too close; he was struggling to think straight. It was time to act.

‘Look at me.’

He didn’t quite know what to expect; somehow he assumed that the mere power of his voice would be enough to bring down Dongmin’s defences.

Instead of going pliant, Dongmin strained underneath him, eyes pointedly turned away.

Minhyuk frowned, unpleasantly surprised, ‘Look at me. I don’t want to hurt you.’

He leaned closer, the warmth of the boy’s body pulling him in like a giant magnet. Breathing in Dongmin’s scent, inhaling it with every pore of his body, the bloodlust was getting dangerously strong. His trousers got uncomfortably tight and it was getting increasingly difficult not to grind against Dongmin’s hips. There wasn’t much time left before it would be too late for any coherent thoughts.

He tried again, more softly this time. ‘Please, look at me.’

Dongmin arched away from him. Squeezed his eyes shut. ‘No way, sucker.’

Anger was becoming to seep into his lust. He grabbed Dongmin’s cheeks roughly and turned his face towards him. ‘I told you to look at me.’

The beautiful eyes remained stubbornly closed. ‘I’m not going to look at my killer.’

The words were a slap in Minhyuk’s face. He reeled back a little. ‘I don’t want to kill you.’

‘Please.’ The disdain in Dongmin’s voice told Minhyuk that the boy didn’t intend to give in. Not by an inch. Not voluntarily. His tone was derisive, full of hatred, even as a tear started rolling down his cheek. He struggled under Minhyuk’s weight. ‘Don’t treat me like an idiot. I know I don’t stand a chance with you. Just be quick.’

Something in him broke. He stepped back, letting go of Dongmin’s thrashing body.

Hoping to soothe, he ran his palms up and down Dongmin’s arms. Watched the flawless face, the pale, sweet-smelling skin, looking for any signs of softness in the boy’s features, in his stance.

There were none. Just stubborn eyes looking away from Minhyuk. Visible disgust emanating from every cell of Dongmin’s beautiful body.

Beautiful but not his. Never his.

He never felt so defeated and lonely so fast. How could he be so stupid. So hopeful and so stupid.

‘I don’t want to kill you.’ He stepped back, arms falling down, resigned.

There was confusion in Dongmin’s eyes. It took Minhyuk a moment to realise that the boy was finally looking directly at him.

Pretty brown eyes. Bewildered. Disgusted.

‘Is this some sort of a sick game? Like, you let me go, only to get me again around the corner? Is this your idea of fun?’

He shook his head slowly. ‘No.’

‘So what do you want?’

‘Nothing.’ Whispering was the only way. The only way his voice wouldn’t crack. ‘I don’t want anything. Go.’

‘What?’

His shoulders slumped. ‘Run. Run away.’

Swaying in confusion, Dongmin locked their eyes. The hope in Minhyuk’s chest soared high for a moment, hoping the boy would stay. Then Dongmin sprinted down the alley and Minhyuk deflated.

So much for trying to charm his first human.

Fuck Myungjun and his useless advice.

He started running in the opposite direction, not bothering to reach the rooftops. Tears blinded his vision. Choked his throat. Dongmin’s scent was fading and he stifled a sob as he tore recklessly down the street, barely taking in his surroundings.

He rounded a corner at maximum speed, when a body slammed into him, full force, toppling them both over.

A wave of scent, warm and deliciously human.

Grabbing his victim, a surge of triumph soared through him. He nearly laughed at the coincidence.

Because this was a familiar scent, one that he had smelled before. Not as sweet as Dongmin’s but enticing nevertheless, fresh and sharp and innocent somehow at the same time – like newly washed sheets and a crisp morning, just before dawn.

The human in his arms was strong, he had to give him that. He had only seen him once before, sweet-faced and laughing softly into Dongmin’s mouth, one hand dipping under the waistband of Dongmin’s jeans - so Bin’s strength surprised him.

Straining a little, he pinned the boy underneath him. Maybe he should kill Bin, just to teach Dongmin a lesson.

One hand clamped over the boy’s mouth, he nosed at his exposed throat and licked at the bulging vein, the pulse frantic right next to his fangs.

Sweet revenge.

A trail of scent rose sharply in the air, a sweet wave coming from the distance. Hitting him like a hammer.

Dongmin.

His blood. So much of it.

He let Bin go. ‘Run, you idiot.’

The boy scrambled to get up, gasping for air. Minhyuk didn’t even glance at him, letting him run away, tripping over his feet in blind panic.

This time he leaped up, sprinting blindly over the rooftops towards the source of the scent. Two blocks down, the trail got so strong Minhyuk nearly blacked out.

Like a hound, he followed the thick smell of Dongmin’s blood. Too fresh to mean anything good.

A horrifying thought crossed his mind and he sped even more. Has another vampire gotten to Dongmin? He paused, scented. Tried to detect the cloying scent of a vampire amidst the busy smells of an old city – the aroma of mossy roofs and dusty brickwork, the woody smell of smoke coming from the chimneys, the odour of thousands of unwashed bodies and exhumes from cars.

Nothing.

The lack of a vampire nearby should have reassured him but it didn’t. He knew Myungjun went hunting too and tonight he had seemed in a grumpy mood. An argument with Jinwoo earlier that that night about something trivial had filled their home with heavy, uncomfortable silence and Myungjun surprised Minhyuk at dusk, peering into his bedroom.

‘I think I tag along tonight. I’m so angry I need to let off some steam.’

He prayed – long forgotten words from his past, to the gods he didn’t believe in anymore - that Dongmin wasn’t the unlucky soul that was helping Myungjun to unwind right now.

Once he got close to the park – a dark, overgrown swath of wilderness stretching along the river - Dongmin’s scent became so clear he swore he could lick his blood in the air.

Carefully, he eased himself down onto the wide pavement. The houses near the park were grander, the area nicer than the neighbourhood near the club Dongmin had left earlier that night.

Where is he? He turned towards the park, not bothering to find an official entrance – one of four ornate gates arching over wide gravel paths – and followed a narrow trail instead, half hidden in the thick overgrowth.

The footpath in front of him - barely a foot wide and muddy - wound around the ancient elms and oaks, almost petering out after a while. Minhyuk couldn’t see anything but his nose didn’t lie. Dongmin was there, amongst the earthy damp smell of grass, moss and wet soil.

He sniffed the air for the last time and sprinted towards the scent, the soles of his shoes slipping on the mud. The bushes were getting thicker, almost impossible to get through, but he could see a faint light flickering in front of him. Ducking under the low branches, leaves slapping him in the face and sharp twigs scraping his arms, he kept charging through the undergrowth until it finally thinned out somewhat, allowing him to see.

In front of him was a wide gravel path, intersecting the park in the middle. Old-fashioned lanterns were lining its length, their light greenish and feeble, barely penetrating the inky darkness.

Speeding up, the scent almost overwhelming now in its intensity, he nearly tripped over a dark shape on the ground.

He screamed.

A flock of ravens rose from the nearby trees, terrified by the noise.

Right in front of him, Dongmin laid face down, legs still in the darkness of the thicket, his upper body on the lit path, right under the sickly gleam of a single flickering lantern.

The stain under his head was spreading slowly, like black ink seeping into the gravel.


	3. Chapter 3

Minhyuk screamed.

He crouched above Dongmin, watching in horror as a puddle of blood spread under Dongmin’s head, black in the cold light of the lantern above.

It took one glance at the whole scene to find out what happened. A root sticking out from the slippery soil. A long skid mark in the mud. The lamppost next to Dongmin’s head, a large blood stain on the wrought iron detail at the bottom.

He let out a choked sob, sinking to his knees. 

‘No, no, no, no! Please don’t die! This would be such a stupid way to die. Why did you have to run like an idiot and trip?’

It didn’t help when it dawned on him that, most likely, Dongmin had been running away from him.

As gently as he could, he turned the body around. Dongmin was conscious but only just.

He slid his hands under the boy’s neck and lifted him slowly off the ground. His body felt almost lifeless in Minhyuk’s arms, head lolling back, arms hanging limply at his sides.

Panic spread like wildfire in his chest.

He didn’t really know what to do. Dongmin was alive but the life was bleeding out of him; he could feel it and for a short, agonising moment the idea of turning him flashed hot and searing through his mind.

Stalling, he stared at the boy’s pale face. Should he make that decision for him?

The warm, heady scent of Dongmin’s blood brought him back to reality.

No.

Memories of his own newborn days flashed in front of his eyes like an old movie. The thirst, the rage. The regret.

No, he didn't want that for Dongmin.

But a shameful little voice in his head whispered that this was not the real reason why he wouldn’t turn Dongmin after all.

Because the truth was, he wanted Dongmin like this.

He wanted Dongmin alive, his heart beating under his palms, his blood singing just for him.

Even if it never happened, even if Dongmin never looked at him like he had looked at Bin down at the club – breathless, drunk with desire and love – he didn’t care.

As long as Dongmin was breathing, he still had a chance.

The waning colour of Dongmin cheeks jolted him out of his stupor.

What should he do?

His whole immortal life, he always tried to end lives, not to save them. And memories from his youth seemed faded, blurred, not even there anymore.

What do you do when someone has knocked their head?

He sank to his knees, cradling Dongmin to his chest. Tried to compose himself, to think clearly. To ignore the pull of Dongmin’s blood, the scent so thick he felt like passing out.

With immense effort, he forced himself to concentrate. Blood. Blood loss. The main thing was to stop the bleeding, to seal the wound.

Focus.

Vampires healed fast; their wounds closed within minutes. Vampire saliva had the ability to accelerate healing – in vampires, animals, humans.

Carefully, he licked at the gash, terrified at the amount of blood on the pavement, shaking so badly he feared he might drop the limp body in his arms. His fangs slipped out when tasting Dongmin’s sweetness. The thick satisfying taste, the salty, coppery tinge, yet so fresh. The purity of it.

The hazy cloud in his mind got thicker. Dongmin’s throat, so close and pulsing faintly, was tipping him over the edge. It felt like being newborn again, the memories of those days tinged red with bloodlust. The same lack of reason into which he was slipping now.

He lapped at the blood, licking clean every single droplet of it, every remnant clinging to Dongmin’s hair and face. Licked at the wound again and again, even if the taste of copper was long gone.

Dongmin’s body in his arms was motionless but the heartbeat was still there.

After a while, the wound not quite healed yet but not bleeding anymore, it became clear that the only thing to do now was to wait.

He carefully carried Dongmin away from the hard gravel and congealing blood. Finding a nice spot under an ancient oak, he gently eased his body into the soft grass and sat back on his haunches. The whiteness of Dongmin’s face terrified him but when he listened to the heartbeat, it was getting stronger.

Minhyuk waited.

The time slowed down but he didn’t mind. He watched Dongmin’s chest rise and fall, his lips slightly open, the quiet breaths almost imperceptible amongst the whispers of the trees above their heads. He smoothed the damp strands of hair off Dongmin’s forehead, fingers lingering a moment on his face, tracing the contours of the boy’s cheekbones, the proud curve of his aristocratic nose.

He felt grateful for this limbo – he knew he was on borrowed time here – and tried to soak up as much of Dongmin’s beauty as he could.

The night around them was full of noises – wind swishing in the trees, the distant hum of the city, an occasional shriek of a startled bird, the rustle of leaves when a nocturnal animal ran past – but the only sound that mattered to Minhyuk was the thumping of Dongmin’s heart.

Minhyuk waited, hoping against all odds the moment would never end. Stroking Dongmin’s cheeks. Resting his palm against Dongmin’s heartbeat. Making sure it was still there.

And then the boy stirred awake under his touch.

Minhyuk startled, snatching the hand off Dongmin’s chest. He hovered above the body, unsure what to do.

Dongmin’s eyelids fluttered and he moaned a little, as if in pain. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Focused at the dark green canopy of trees above him. Then turned his head slowly, each movement slow and hesitant, and met Minhyuk’s gaze.

His eyes widened in horror.

In a bout of panic, Minhyuk slapped his hand over the boy’s mouth, movements frantic.

‘Shh, don’t scream. Please. I’m not going to hurt you. Stay quiet.’

Without air, Dongmin was rapidly losing the consciousness he barely gained and Minhyuk hastily withdrew his hand.

Dongmin gasped and started coughing, scrambling to stand up. Halfway through, his knees gave up and Minhyuk caught him mid-fall.

He was a dead weight in Minhyuk’s arms, exhausted by the effort.

‘You mustn’t get up,’ Minhyuk whispered lamely. ‘You are hurt.’

Dongmin’s eyes welled up.

‘Please, let me go. Please,’ he sobbed. ‘I need to find Binnie, he is around somewhere… We argued… He ran off and I don’t know where he is. He is not picking up his phone. I need to find him; let me go!’

He tried to break free again, his attempts thwarted by Minhyuk’s grip.

‘Shh, calm down,’ Minhyuk laid him on the grass again, aware that his touch was only increasing Dongmin’s panic. He thought desperately, frantically.

Could he find a reason to keep Dongmin with him, if only for a moment more?

Pushing his palm against Dongmin’s chest, he held him in place. ‘Listen to me. Just listen, ok?’

He increased the pressure a little as it became clear that Dongmin wasn’t giving up. ‘Just listen! I don’t know where Binnie is but I can help you to find him. It’s not safe around here. My brother is hunting in the area tonight and he has a soft spot for cute voices. Your boyfriend has a very cute voice.’

‘How… How do you know what my boyfriend’s voice sounds like?’ Dongmin’s voice rose in agitation and, panicked, Minhyuk clamped his mouth shut again.

‘Be quiet! How do I know? Because I watched you both the last time you came here. The club I mean. Friday, two weeks ago.’

On impulse, he pushed strands of matted hair off Dongmin’s forehead.

The beautiful eyes filled with tears again. He could smell Dongmin’s fear. He saw how his body recoiled every time he leaned closer, felt how Dongmin arched away from his touch.

The adrenalin left him, leaving nothing but sadness. No matter what he did, Dongmin would always see him as a monster.

‘I’m not going to kill you. If I uncover your mouth, can you promise not to scream? Please?’

Dongmin stared at him mutely, not reacting. Looked away again.

‘If you scream,’ Minhyuk pleaded, ‘people might come and I will have to disappear. You won’t be able to find Binnie as fast as I could and by the time you find him, it might be too late. Please. Think about it.’

Blinking away tears, the heartbeat picking up, Dongmin looked up. Looked right into his eyes and nodded.

Minhyuk slid his hand away and pinned his forearms to the ground instead. Better to be safe than sorry. Dongmin gasped for air.

‘Please, please, let’s go and find him, please!’

‘Hold on. I’ve told you I’m not going to kill you and that I would help you to find your boyfriend. But… Can I ask for something in return?’

Dongmin stilled. The quiet resignation on his face hurt Minhyuk more than he dared to admit. The stoic acceptance. The way Dongmin steeled himself for a split of a second, then looked Minhyuk straight into the eyes again. There was no horror left in his gaze, only dead weariness.

‘Do whatever you want,’ he said quietly. ‘Just do it quickly. I need to find Binnie.’

‘I’m not going to bite you – if that’s what you mean. You have lost too much blood.’

‘What?’

‘You fell; don’t you remember? You fell and hit your head.’

‘I… I know I was running because I thought you were following me. I don’t remember much more after that.’

‘You tripped as you were running through the park. You fell, hit your head on a lamppost. Pretty badly.’

Dongmin’s face drained of colour. ‘I… I don’t believe you.’

He released one of Dongmin’s arms. ‘Touch the left side of your head.’

Gingerly, Dongmin raised his hand. He hissed when his fingers touched the wound.

‘See? I am telling the truth. I’ve found you almost unconscious on the path; you were bleeding.’

Confusion clouded Dongmin’s face.‘ Why didn’t you kill me? It would have been so easy.’

‘I have told you,’ Minhyuk shrugged. ‘I don’t want to kill you.’

‘Why?’

‘Because.’

‘And you’re not gonna bite me?’

‘No.’

Instead of relief, there was a new kind of dread etched on Dongmin’s pale face all of a sudden; he started shaking uncontrollably. ‘You’re going to fuck me, aren’t you?’

‘What?’ Minhyuk jerked back.

‘Isn’t that what happens sometimes when… your kind catches us? Is that what you want?’

Image of Dongmin’s body, warm and slick with sweat underneath him.

‘No! I mean, yes but… No! I just…’

He stared into Dongmin’s eyes, incapable of forming a single coherent thought.

Although still shaking, Dongmin’s expression hardened.

‘Fine. I get it. Just… Just be quick, ok?’ he gritted through his teeth. ‘I… I need to find Binnie, I need to know that he is safe.’

Minhyuk recoiled at the cold, resigned hatred in Dongmin’s face and stepped back. ‘I won’t fuck you; you don’t need to be afraid of that.’

‘What do you want then?’

Minhyuk let out a shaky breath. ‘Can I… kiss you?’

‘What?’ Dongmin’s face grimaced in utter confusion.

‘Can I kiss you?’ mumbled Minhyuk, eyes trained on the grass at his feet. ‘I’ve never kissed anyone.’

‘What?’ Dongmin repeated in disbelief, month open. ‘I don’t believe you. You go around sucking people’s blood and killing them; don’t tell me you have never kissed anybody. Or before, when you were human.’

‘It’s true.’ The old habit of shuffling his feet when he was embarrassed came back.

‘Wow.’ Dongmin’s snort cut deep. Sarcastic, belittling. ‘A vampire virgin.’

The mortification was overwhelming. Here he was, trying to seduce somebody for the first time in two centuries and the only reaction he got was incredulity and being called a virgin.

He grabbed Dongmin’s hands and yanked them above his head. Slammed them against the ground, hard. Gripped his wrists so roughly, it must’ve hurt. It was meant to hurt.

Tears leaked anew out of his eyes but Dongmin didn’t move a muscle. His stare lacked any fear. Arms stretched above their heads, their faces were a mere breath away but the defiance in Dongmin’s beautiful face made Minhyuk’s blood boil with anger.

‘If you don’t like my proposal,’ his grip on Dongmin’s wrists hardened, ‘I can still have you for dinner and let my brother roam free tonight. He will enjoy meeting Bin.’

The inflicted pain was definitely less effective than mentioning his precious boyfriend, he noticed. Dongmin didn’t even flinched at having his wrists crushed but at the mere mention of Bin, he thrashed under Minhyuk’s weight, more tears welling up in his eyes.

‘Please, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! Please. Just kiss me. Or do whatever you want. I don’t care. Do it! Just be quick!’

This time, the terror in his eyes was real and Minhyuk’s anger evaporated in an instant.

The stony indifference with which Dongmin faced their potential kiss – or even the potential fuck - like it was an ordeal to be endured before he could go and find his boyfriend, felt like a stab in Minhyuk’s chest.

‘No.’

He let go of Dongmin’s arms.

‘What?’ Shakily, Dongmin rubbed at the red imprints of Minhyuk’s fingers on his wrists.

‘Let’s go and find Bin.’ He stood up and pulled Dongmin with him, none too gently.

‘Why are you letting me go?’

‘Because you hate me. I can smell it; you are disgusted by me. I don’t want my first kiss to be with somebody who wants to throw up or cry when I look at him.’

Dongmin hung his head, avoiding his eyes and Minhyuk’s chest ached. How he longed for Dongmin to contradict him, to say that no, Minhyuk was wrong, he would love to kiss him, right now.

Dongmin remained silent.

He sighed heavily. ‘Ok, it’s time to go.’

‘Do you really mean it?’

For the first time, Dongmin’s voice was void of any hatred, the softness wholly unexpected.

‘I mean it. Let’s go.’

‘Wait.’ Weakly, Dongmin grabbed his sleeve. ‘Thank you.’

‘It was my utmost pleasure,’ Minhyuk let out a sarcastic huff. ‘Now if we could get a move on. Myungjun doesn’t usually go for the kill when hunting but today he was really pissed off. He said he wanted to let off some steam.

Dongmin visibly paled in front of his eyes. ‘Let’s go.’

Minhyuk scooped him up in his arms. ‘I will carry you.’

‘No,’ Dongmin protested weakly and tried to wriggle out of his hold. ‘I can walk.’

He chuckled sarcastically, ‘Yeah, sure. You lost so much blood that you would faint on me after one minute of running. We really don’t need that right now. Plus I’m sure you would be absolutely brilliant at leaping from one rooftop to another. Hold on.’

Without a word, Dongmin wrapped his arms around Minhyuk’s neck.

It took him a second to adjust to running with extra weight but it wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be, the only difference him being a tad slower than usual. They left the park in an instant and Minhyuk sprinted back, as fast as he could, towards the network of narrow streets surrounding the club. Judging by Dongmin’s gasps as he rounded the odd corner at almost full speed, it was still fast enough. Climbing up onto a roof was more of a challenge but after a moment’s deliberation, he made up his mind.

‘Hop onto my back and hold on tight,’ he set Dongmin down in a quiet backyard. ‘Quick.’

‘What?’ Dongmin looked a little dazed from the sprint, eyes unfocused and drooping.

‘We need to climb onto the roof – this one can be reached quite easily,’ he eyed a two-storey building in front of them, ‘and carry on from there. Much easier to avoid people if you don’t want to be spotted - and easier to detect scents from above. I need two hands for climbing; I can't carry you like this. Come on.’

This time, Dongmin obeyed without a word. Minhyuk scaled the fire escape ladder and hauled himself up the last bit. His hand gripped the ledge a little tardier than usual but he managed not to drop into the void with his precious cargo.

‘Ok,’ he straightened and sniffed the air. ‘I can't smell anything, not Binnie, nor Myungjun. That means we have to run around for a bit. You’d better hold on.’

Dongmin’s legs around Minhyuk’s waist tightened and he clung closer to his back. Minhyuk had to shut his eyes for a moment to compose himself. Getting hard wasn’t what he needed right now – it would cloud his judgement and distract him rather awfully.

He took a deep breath. ‘Ok, let’s go.’

The first leap was the worst. Even with the inhuman strength vampires possessed, Dongmin was much taller than him and Minhyuk had to calculate carefully to be able spring from one rooftop to another without any mishaps. It took him couple of minutes to adjust.

‘Can you smell anything?’

Dongmin on his back was getting jittery. Minhyuk couldn’t admit that he wasn’t particularly bothered by the fact that their hunt was proving unsuccessful so far and was rather enjoying the human warmth against his back.

‘No, not yet. Don’t worry.’

Dongmin’s panicky heartbeat was telling him that he was anything but not worried.

‘Does your brother have a type?’

‘No.’ He kept the answer purposefully short, aware how lousy a liar he always was.

‘But you said… that he likes pretty voices..’ Dongmin’s arms tightened around his neck, the scent of his blood overpowering, and Minhyuk’s strained nerves snapped.

‘He also likes cute boys with hot bodies. Like your boyfriend. Like his boyfriend. Stop distracting me or I miss him!’

He noticed with grim satisfaction that Dongmin stopped talking immediately.

After minutes of fruitless hopping from roof to roof, he paused to catch his breath.

‘So, where have you two argued?’

‘We were still in the club. He ran outside, I didn’t see in which direction,’ Dongmin was close to tears.

Minhyuk hesitated.

‘I guess we could go back to the club and start again,’ he started uncertainly. ‘ You think Bin would…’

He cut off the sentence, as the faintest of smells in the distance registered on his radar. He counted his lucky stars that he had bumped into Bin earlier and could recognise his scent; otherwise he would have to rely on having to see him. This was much easier.

‘Have you found him?’ Impatiently, Dongmin tugged at his shirt.

‘Shush,’ he silenced him with a finger to his lip and pulled Dongmin’s thighs tighter around him. ‘Hold on.’

The two blocks in front of them were a blur as he jumped and ran as fast as he could, determined not to fail this mission. If he could not make Dongmin like him tonight, he could at least make him to think Minhyuk was a man who kept his promises.

Bin’s scent got thicker as they neared a little side road, lined with small terraced houses with cute tiny front gardens and boxes full of flowers on the windowsills. The roofs were now steeper and balancing on them got more precarious.

Minhyuk stopped and peered down. A lonely figure was sitting on a low garden wall, shoulders slumped. He inhaled quickly and gulped. It was Bin, the scent was unmistakable. Their journey together was over.

He felt tempted to carry on, to run as if nothing happened, and stretch the moments with Dongmin for a bit longer – but in the end he couldn’t do it; there was no point.

This is a lost fight anyway, he thought bitterly.

Slowly, he lowered Dongmin down, suddenly aware of the sickly paleness of the other’s face. The chase must have taken a bigger toll on him than he was letting on.

‘He is here. I’m gonna jump down with you; don’t get scared, just hold on.’

Before Dongmin had any chance to react, he gripped his waist and leapt down. Despite the drop, they landed softly in the middle of the road, barely ten metres away from Bin, who started at the sudden noise and jumped up.

‘Min!’ Bin’s eyes went from Dongmin to Minhyuk and widened in horror. ‘Jesus, Min, are you ok? Let go off him, sucker! What have you done to him?’

Minhyuk slowly lowered Dongmin to the ground. Bin watched, frozen to the spot, as Dongmin’s legs buckled underneath him a little.

‘You monster, what have you done?’ His voice shook with rage.

Minhyuk held Dongmin close, supporting his shaky weight. It was hard to let go of the warmth, the supple softness of the human skin against the coolness of his fingertips. While leaping down from the roof, Dongmin’s t-shirt had rode up a little and he managed to slip his hand under the thin fabric. In his semi-conscious state, Dongmin didn’t seem to notice Minhyuk’s arm sneaking further, wrapping itself around Dongmin’s waist.

The touch of bare skin under his palm - breathing, living - burned Minhyuk’s hand.

As if awakening from a dream, Bin suddenly dashed forward and snapped Minhyuk out of his daydream. ‘I’ll kill you!’

Minhyuk’s swift kick sent Bin flying to the ground. Next to him, Dongmin keened, the sound almost not human. He wrenched free out of Minhyuk’s grasp and sunk to his knees.

‘Binnie, oh my god, Binnie!’

His shaking hands cupped Bin’s face.

Pushing Dongmin aside, Bin staggered to his feet and charged again.

This time Minhyuk simply help up his hand to block the hurtling body. The noise, like a branch snapping in a wind, was sickening. Bin yelped in pain and doubled over.

‘Stop!’ Dongmin’s scream drowned out everything else. ‘Stop!’

Minhyuk wasn’t sure if he meant him of Bin.

Dongmin threw himself at Bin, cradled him close. Bin, Minhyuk noticed, pressed his left arm to his chest, face sickeningly white.

‘Please, stop,’ Dongmin’s tear-stained face turned up, looking at Minhyuk. Pleading. ‘Stop!’

‘I’m not doing anything,’ Minhyuk shrugged and felt almost stupid. He knew he should run but couldn’t move somehow, staring hypnotised at Dongmin’s wet cheeks.

In Dongmin’s arms, Bin growled and tried to get up. ‘I’m gonna kill you! What did you do to him?’

‘Nothing, he hasn’t done anything!’ Dongmin cried, trying to contain Bin’s struggling form. His whole body was shaking so badly, his hands were hardly able to hold his boyfriend’s body. ‘Binnie, please, stop! Bin, please! Bin!’

His voice broke down, dissolved into teary cries. ‘He didn’t hurt me. Binnie, please, let go!’

Bin stopped straining in Dongmin’s arms. His laboured panting mixed oddly with Dongmin’s sobs.

‘Just tell me one thing, sucker,’ his eyes bore into Minhyuk, unpleasant, hateful. ‘If you really didn’t hurt him – why is there blood on his shirt?’

‘I fell, Binnie,’ the tears were streaming down Dongmin’s face. ‘I fell and hit my head. He actually helped me.’

‘He is right,’ Minhyuk shrugged. He flaunted the indifference in Bin’s face, enjoyed the feeling of being in the same boat as Dongmin, even for a mere moment. ‘He tripped and fell; I found him in the park, bleeding from a wound in his head and barely conscious.’

‘And you think I will believe this bullshit? You’ve charmed him; he doesn’t know what he is saying!’

‘Wait.’ Struggling to straighten up, Dongmin pulled the stained t-shirt over his head.

Blinding, immaculate paleness. Like milk. Or lilies in the field. Doves in the sky.

Minhyuk had to close his eyes for a moment; the pearly whiteness of Dongmin’s skin was too much.

‘Binnie. I’m not hurt. Look.’ The tiredness in Dongmin’s was as heavy as lead. The t-shirt slipped out of his trembling fingers. ‘Just look.’

Breathing heavily through his nose, Bin looked as if was about to faint. He scanned Dongmin’s torso, eyes lingering, Minhyuk noticed, on his neck.

With trembling legs, he stood up. Stared at Dongmin until he got up too, although with difficulty and swaying a little. Minhyuk almost stepped forward and steadied him but stopped himself just in time. His arms dropped down, hanging uselessly by his sides.

The emptiness hurt.

‘Let’s get out of here, Min.’ Gingerly pressing his left arm to his chest, Bin nudged Dongmin with his shoulder, urged him to go. ‘Come on, baby.’

Dongmin staggered after Bin, like a newborn foe, with limbs too long and too weak to know what to do with them.

‘Can you walk, Min?’

The tenderness in Bin’s voice hurt more than any bruises that Minhyuk acquired that night.

‘I’m… I’m dizzy.’

‘Hold onto me, baby. Quick.’

Minhyuk watched then hurrying away, Dongmin’s arm draped over Bin’s shoulders, a dead weight. Their footsteps echoed in the silent street.

Just before they disappeared behind the corner, Dongmin looked over his shoulder. Although his gaze was confused, the look filled Minhyuk with a dark thrill – as if their business was yet to be finished. He didn’t quite dare to name it hope – he couldn’t afford to be too hopeful – but there was definitely _something _in Dongmin’s gaze.

The stained t-shirt left behind on the ground smelled of Dongmin and he hurriedly picked it up and clutched the bloody fabric to his chest. He kept watching the empty corner long after Bin and Dongmin were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’

Minhyuk didn’t acknowledge Jinwoo’s presence and kept staring ahead.

‘Where is he, can you see him?’ Jinwoo perched next to him and swung his legs over the ledge.

The rooftop was still radiating heat, even when the sun had dipped behind the horizon a good hour ago.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Stubbornly, Minhyuk kept his eyes on the building across the street. Dusk was falling; the warm glow spilling out of the lit up windows punctuated the deepening darkness around.

There were no curtains in the top floor windows and Minhyuk saw Bin and Dongmin sitting at the table in their tiny kitchen. Bin had his left arm in a sling and the fingers on his right hand wrapped in a thick bandage. He giggled at his own hopelessness and let Dongmin cut up the food and hold up the pieces for him to eat, like a mother feeding her baby.

Minhyuk felt bad about the pain he had caused the boy. He could remember the awful dry snap when Bin’s left arm broke but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to recall what happened to Bin’s fingers.

Dongmin and Bin seemed to have forgotten all about their encounter with him and their laughter filtered clear and carefree through the opened windows across the darkening street.

After dinner, when Dongmin started washing dishes and Bin plastered himself over his boyfriend’s back, kissing the nape of his neck, Minhyuk tore his eyes away.

There was only so much self-inflicted pain he was able to endure in front of his maker without losing it.

Jinwoo didn’t look at him. Instead, he quietly watched the pantomime in front of them, people moving from one softly lit room to another, talking, arguing, going on with their lives – like a shadow theatre, performed just for them.

Mercifully, he seemed to have abandoned the plan to find out which one of the shadowy figures, disappearing from view only to emerge in the next window a moment later, was Dongmin.

‘Can I tell you something, Hyukkie?’

The question, no matter how softly spoken, rang too loud in the inky silence.

‘I don’t need a lecture about how I shouldn’t mope when there are so many other fish in the sea,’ he snapped, ‘but, yeah, whatever.’

Jinwoo didn’t rise to the bait.

‘Do you know why I turned you back then?’ he asked in the same calm voice that nevertheless managed to grate on Minhyuk’s nerves.

‘Well, yes? You said you had been lonely and got fed up roaming around on your own.’

‘Yes. But there was a reason why I was on my own. Why I was lonely.’

Despite Minhyuk pretending really hard that he was not listening, Jinwoo ignored it and settled down more comfortably, as if readying himself for a lengthy speech.

‘See,’ he shot Minhyuk a brief sideways glance, ‘when I was young I always wanted to travel. Never wanted to spend my whole life in one place, studying for years only to become one of the government’s officials, marry the bride my family would choose for me and die without seeing the world.’

Jinwoo ran a tired hand over his face, looking worn out all of a sudden. ‘My family was rich and I never wanted for anything – but my mother died when I was young, ten maybe, and me and my older brother were never close. He was the apple of our father’s eye – perfect in everything.’

Jinwoo’s words somehow managed to chill Minhyuk to the bone, even if there was no trace of bitterness or anger in them, any emotions being wiped out long ago by the passing of time.

‘When I was sixteen, my father fell ill and died. My brother was already working for the government at the time and was looking for a bride. He was always power-hungry and I could see he was trying to come up with a plan to make sure he would get the most of our inheritance. I mean, he would have anyway, as the first-born - that was the custom back in the day – but knowing him, he wanted all of it and then some,’ Jinwoo chuckled a little mirthlessly.

‘What did you do?’

Minhyuk tore his gaze away from the building across the street and inched closer. No matter how much he wanted to pout right now for having his stalker session ruined, he liked stories from Jinwoo’s previous life - even if his maker only indulged him once in a while, claiming that remembering too much of his past was pointless, especially if all those things happened four hundred years ago.

‘I reassured my brother I didn’t want much, took some of my inheritance and left Joseon. There was nothing for me there, not after my mother died. I went north to Manchuria first, stayed there for couple of months, but it was all so similar, so boring. I wanted to go further, to see more, so I boarded a Portuguese merchant ship in Macau and sailed to Europe. It was so exciting, Minhyuk – a whole new world awaiting me! I befriended the ship’s first officer, Giovanni from Venice, and started learning Portuguese and Italian while I had nothing to do. By the time we docked in Lisbon, I was a year older, was almost fluent in both languages and couldn’t wait to see the world. Giovanni left the crew there; he wanted to go home to see his wife and children for a bit, and – kind soul that he was – didn’t refuse when I asked if I could tag along to see Venice. I think I fell in love with the city from how he used to describe it during those long evenings while we were sailing around Africa, his voice soft and beautiful, the longing to see it one more time dripping from his every word.’

Jinwoo shook his head a little, as if he couldn’t believe any of it was true and Minhyuk didn’t dare to move.

‘So I ended up in Venice,’ Jinwoo smiled at Minhyuk’s slightly breathless expression. ‘Found odd jobs to make ends meet after my money got tighter and before I knew it I stayed. I have never seen a city like that. Beautiful, like pale sunshine perched on top of hundreds of canals – marble bridges, the churches, the ornate houses lining the water. And the gondolas everywhere – the slim boats criss-crossing the city. That’s how everyone travelled. Some canals were so narrow, you could shake hands with someone living in the building across.

Jinwoo’s eyes turned dreamy.

‘In my second year living there, I met a girl. Chiara, a daughter of a rich merchant. I used to deliver wine to their house. She was breath-taking. Her laugh was the most beautiful thing in the world.’

His eyes saddened. ‘Myungjun has the same kind of laugh. I know it sounds silly, they are not alike at all, but the laugh,’ he sounded almost shy, ‘the laugh is the same.’

By now, Minhyuk all but forgot about Dongmin across the road, beaming and happy in Bin’s clumsy embrace.

‘What was she like?’ he whispered.

‘Beautiful,’ Jinwoo’s voice sounded wistful. ‘Kind. And she was funny.”

‘We loved each other. God, we even talked about getting married,’ his huff of laughter stroke Minhyuk as bitter. Bitter and unbearably sad.

‘Her family was wealthy. Really wealthy. No noble blood, just rich. I thought I could stand a chance – so I started saving money, worked harder than ever before. I wanted to show her father that I would take good care of her. For a year I only slept, ate and worked all the time. I barely saw my friends – even Chiara didn’t see me as often as she would have loved to – but I convinced her it would be worth it.’

Jinwoo clasped his hands together, not looking up. Wrung his fingers.

‘After a whole year of working like a field slave, I was close. With everything I saved up and with the remnants of my wealth from home, I bought a house. Now I was a respectable man, a man who had a good job – I worked for a wealthy wine merchant and was quickly becoming his right hand – and I had a house. I was becoming somebody.’

There was something not quite right in the curve of Jinwoo’s hunched up back and Minhyuk felt goosebumps prickling his skin.

‘The day I bought the house I went out with my friends to celebrate. I didn’t have a chance to tell Chiara; she was away with her parents for two weeks, visiting an elderly aunt somewhere in the country, but I couldn’t bear sitting alone at home – in my new home – and not to tell anyone the great news.

Jinwoo hugged his knees to his chest and gazed at the slowly disappearing lights in the windows across the road.

‘We drank a lot that night. I was happy; I bought several rounds for everyone in the tavern - I was bursting with excitement.’

‘I hope you didn’t start a fight,’ Minhyuk poked him in the ribs.

‘That I didn’t,’ Jinwoo’s laugh sounded hollow. ‘But sometime after midnight a stranger approached me and thanked me for all the free drinks. Introduced himself as Benedito. He was from Lisbon, said he traded in spices and was very impressed when I was able to talk to him in Portuguese. I was impressed too. He was charming, eloquent, well dressed – and he was beautiful.’

Minhyuk felt a chill creeping up his spine. He knew where this was going.

‘It felt odd,’ Jinwoo whispered shamefacedly. ‘I loved Chiara but that man was so irresistible; I felt like I could barely look him in the eye – he was blinding like a sun. When he said he needed to be going, I got up too. Followed him outside without a second though. When he kissed me in the dark, I returned the kisses like I was possessed; I wanted him so badly.’

‘Was he… was he?’ Minhyuk left the words hanging.

‘He was. When he bit me, I thought I would die. Well, I did,’ Jinwoo shrugged his shoulders and Minhyuk didn’t dare to do more than giving his arm a gentle squeeze.

‘God, how I hated him.’

Tears started rolling down Jinwoo’s cheeks, a silent trickle of heartbreak. ‘I hated him, Hyukkie, but at the same time, I needed him. The bloodlust at the beginning was terrifying and he was the only soul who was there for me. A dead soul perhaps – but he was there.’

Jinwoo wiped at his cheeks with his sleeve.

‘The first months after he turned me were the worst. Not only because of the thirst but because I felt so alone. So betrayed. And Benedito knew it. He played the role of a concerned old brother so well. A guide. A protector. A lover.’

Jinwoo started crying again, silently.

‘Oh my god,’ Minhyuk felt bile rising up his throat. ‘Did he force you…’

‘No,’ Jinwoo shook his head. ‘He never laid a finger on me himself. He was too clever for that. He waited until I came to him. And I did.’

‘I was weak, Hyukkie,’ Jinwoo hung his head low, more tears dripping down his face. ‘I hated him but I still craved being with him. He was everything I had; there was nobody else. I was such a coward.’

‘You were alone, Jinwoo,’ Minhyuk whispered. ‘It was not your fault.’

‘But I should have been stronger!’ Jinwoo’s shout almost made Minhyuk jump.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ Jinwoo apologised hastily. ‘But it’s true. I should have been strong – for Chiara.’

‘What happened to her?’

Jinwoo sighed. ‘Once the bloodlust faded, I started looking for her. I kept it from Benedito; I wouldn’t put it past him to go hunting and draining her on a whim if he liked her scent, despite knowing that she meant the world to me. He was very old even back then; humans were nothing to him. So I kept looking, secretly, whenever I had the chance. I dreaded the news she might be married – but she wasn’t and after only couple of months I was able to trace her down. Her family moved to a bigger house, that’s why it took me so long to find her.

‘Did you talk to her?’

‘It wasn’t that easy. She was a young girl from a very rich family, she was the right age to be married off - so her parents guarded her every step. She was always with her mother or a chaperone. I thought I would go mad. It didn’t help that Venice was a city where sun shines almost every day.’

‘But you managed, right? You managed to talk to her?’

‘One year after my turning,’ Jinwoo ignored Minhyuk’s questions and stared ahead, as if in a trance, ‘I finally spotted her outside after dark - alone. She had slipped out of the house to see a friend of hers, a silly girl who lived around the corner. No maid was with her to accompany her. I saw my chance.’

The silence was stretching taut, Jinwoo huddling unhappily next to him, like an exhausted old man who doesn’t expect anything good form life anymore.

Minhyuk’s skin crawled with unease. ‘What happened to her, Jinwoo?’

‘She was so happy when she saw me; she nearly fainted. Threw herself at me, nearly crushed me in her arms. In the darkness, she couldn’t see me very well – I got hopeful. I thought I could fool her somehow. But she noticed something was different. I could see how it dawned on her slowly – who I was. The fear in her eyes gave her away.’

Jinwoo’s vice grew thicker. ‘I tried to persuade her everything was the same; that I loved her no matter who I was. She wouldn’t have it. Her body, even though I was holding her in my arms, was arching away from me; I could smell her horror, her fear.’

Minhyuk wrapped his arms around himself. Although warm outside, the desperation in Jinwoo’s words chilled him to the core.

‘I tried to kiss her to show her that everything was like it used to be but the scent of her blood got too much. I bit her and after that – I couldn’t stop. Guess I was still more of a newborn than I thought,’ Jinwoo let out a shaky breath.

‘I killed her, Hyukkie.’ Sliding his fingers into his hair, Jinwoo tugged desperately at the reddish strands. ‘Seeing her lifeless body, so pale - so pale and dead because of my frenzy - I nearly went insane.

Jinwoo sat motionless, looking at his hands. ‘The sight of Venice became pure torture for me. Every corner, every little piazza reminded me of our moments together – I couldn’t stand it. I left. I left Benedito, told him I wanted to go back to Joseon because I missed my home. He laughed at me but I couldn’t tell him the truth; he wouldn’t have understood. So I left - I couldn’t stay somewhere where every building, every street corner reminded me of Chiara, of her life that I destroyed.’

He looked up suddenly, his eyes ablaze.

‘I was selfish, Hyukkie. I was a selfish man – and my selfishness killed her. Had I stayed away, she could have been alive!’

Jinwoo wiped his eyes and took Minhyuk’s hand.

‘Leave the boy be, Hyuk. You’ve been pining, I’ve been watching you. It’s not just thirst, I can see it. You could have drained him ages ago but you don’t want that, do you? You said he had a boyfriend, right? If you really love him, let him be. If he is happy with somebody else, don’t destroy it.’

Minhyuk hung his head low.

‘Ok. Thanks for your… advice, I guess,’ he averted his gaze. Away from Jinwoo’s pain.

Away from his own guilty conscience.

‘Do you want to go back?’ Jinwoo stood up a little shakily.

‘I think I stay for a bit. I need to… You gave me a lot to think about…’

He didn’t say any more, hoping it will be enough for Jinwoo to stop talking.

Jinwoo didnt question his reluctance to leave, merely nodded and disappeared in a flash, the only thing betraying his recent presence a slightly cloying, not quite human scent left behind.

Minhyuk exhaled, relieved.

It was difficult to watch Jinwoo’s pain, so raw and naked, so close.

It was difficult to bear witness to it, knowing that no matter how hard Jinwoo tried Minhyuk would not listen to his advice.

He couldn’t listen; it was too late for that.

He couldn’t tell Jinwoo that he had been coming here for two weeks now, sitting on the rooftop and staring at Dongmin every night, watching him eat dinner with Bin at the small rickety table, their faces illuminated by soft yellow light, the ruby red in Dongmin’s wine glass swaying as he sipped at it with their meal.

If he closed his eyes for a moment it was easy to imagine that it was him, not Bin, whom Dongmin held in his arms on the old sofa in the living room, the light of the TV flickering on the walls.

And he definitely didn’t tell Jinwoo that every night, after the lights went out in the front windows, he went around the back and climbed a tall oak tree in the backyard that loomed above the roof, its branches almost touching the windows in the attic.

Bin and Dongmin’s bedroom.

Minhyuk crouched in its crown, nails digging into the bark and watched Dongmin’s back, muscles rippling under the creamy skin, as he rode Bin whose arm in the cast was propped uselessly on the pillow but whose eyes were clouded with pleasure and love.

He imagined how it must feel to look at Dongmin like that.

When the dark room grew quiet, he sat in the tree and listened to the sound of Dongmin’s even breathing, to the thrumming of his heart. Listened to Bin’s soft snores, to the creaks of their bed as he threw his arm around Dongmin in his sleep.

He wondered how it felt, to hold Dongmin like that.

………………………..

With time, he grew reckless.

On rainy days he followed Dongmin even during daytime, unable to stay away. Crouching behind the chimneys or swallowed by the crowd, he was tracing Dongmin’s steps to work, to the gym in the evening, to the little corner shop where he sometimes went to get milk.

Dongmin’s scent became familiar in all its shades – the crispness of a Monday morning when the smell of Dongmin’s skin mixed with the sharpness of his shampoo and that of a freshly pressed shirt; the musky scent of his sweat after a session in the gym, and the one and only scent Minhyuk hated – Dongmin smelling of Bin on early Sunday mornings, slipping outside to get coffee and bread from a small bakery at the end of their road. Those where the only moments when Minhyuk wished he was somewhere else. When it hurt watching Dongmin’s flushed cheeks, his lips still swollen from Bin’s kisses, skin still radiating the warmth of their bed.

With time, he stopped caring.

He stopped agonising about the possibility of being caught in the act. He secretly wished to be noticed. He longed for Dongmin’s eyes to sweep over the crowd and rest on him. To have his gaze to himself, if only for a fleeting moment

Thursdays became his favourite days of the week. Dongmin would head for the gym straight after lectures and then walk all the way home instead of taking the bus.

Every Thursday Minhyuk prayed for rain.

After a month, Jinwoo became suspicious.

‘Where are you going?’ he grabbed Minhyuk’s sleeve as he was about to slip out.

‘Hunting,’ he shrugged, not quite meeting Jinwoo’s searching gaze.

‘Don’t give me that, Hyuk. It’s too early to hunt.’

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, leave me alone, ok? I’m not a baby; you don’t need to babysit me!’

Jinwoo closed his eyes for a second, exhaling slowly through his nose.

‘Hyuk. Watch your tone, ok? I’m just trying to make sure you’re safe. It’s still early, the sun hasn’t set yet.’

‘What sun? It’s about to rain – see the clouds?’

Through the open front door he pointed at the gun grey sky above.

He forced himself to smile. ‘I’m hungry, Jinwoo. It’s been four weeks; not sure why I left it late again. I’d better go.'

Jinwoo relented. ‘Fine, go. Just don’t do anything dumb.’

Minhyuk kept his face frozen in a fake smile. Once out of Jinwoo’s sight, he started running, furious that because of his overprotective maker he might miss Dongmin.

He reached the gym just as Dongmin left the building and barely avoided their collision. Panicked, he slowed down, hiding behind a group of young girls who left right after Dongmin.

To his surprise, Dongmin didn’t follow his usual route home. He rounded a corner suddenly, almost disappearing into a narrow side lane that Minhyuk didn’t really know.

His footsteps echoed in the empty street and he slowed down, trying to maintain a safe distance, aware how obvious he became, trailing behind Dongmin like a creep.

‘I thought it was you.’

Dongmin whirled around and stopped so abruptly, Minhyuk had no chance to flee.

He stood frozen to the spot. The embarrassment was colossal. How could a human outsmart him?

‘It was the reflection in the glass,’ Dongmin gulped nervously. ‘The gym. I sensed somebody behind me and got nervous. I thought I would see you in the glass but I didn’t.’

Minhyuk groaned at his own stupidity. ‘Why didn’t you ran away then? What are we doing here?’

Dongmin shuffled his feet, like a little boy caught steeling cookies from a jar.

‘I… Well, I mean, now that you are here anyway… ‘ His eyes were trained on Minhyuk, transfixed, as if unable to look away.

Minhyuk felt his fangs run out and had to close his eyes for a second to get his composure back. This was all wrong. Him and Dongmin in a deserted side street. Alone.

Is this what it feels like then, he thought almost shocked. Is Dongmin finally falling under his spell?

‘I… I want to thank you,’ whispered Dongmin. ‘For what you did last time. For saving me. And for keeping Binnie safe.’

He stepped closer, as if in trance, and Minhyuk felt his self-control crumbling like a sponge cake.

He took a hasty step back. ‘God, you are so stupid! This isn’t safe! Stay away! Do you know how hard it was for me to let you go last time? Do you have a death wish?’

Dongmin frowned, confused. ‘I only want to know if you are ok. You looked so sad when we left. So lonely.’

‘Don’t talk nonsense! I have lived for two hundred years. Of course I am lonely! Everybody whom I loved is dead.’

‘What about now though? Do you have someone... someone special? What about your… whoever made you?’

Minhyuk grinned sarcastically. ‘I see you have heard some stories about vampires. No, my maker Jinwoo and I, we were never lovers. He turned me because he was lonely and because I asked him to. My family was dead, I was dying myself and I was scared of death. He is like an older brother to me - but we were never more than that.’

‘What about your brother? You said you had a brother.'

Minhyuk scanned the street around them, noting passers-by approaching in the distance. For once, he was grateful for the interruption. The haze descending on his brain was becoming dangerously tinged with red.

‘Myungjun asked to be turned because Jinwoo and he were in love. He didn’t want to get old and die and leave Jinwoo alone.’

He stopped talking while a middle-aged couple hurried past. The man visibly shuddered when he got close to Minhyuk and ushered his wife to cross to the other side of the street. The woman watched Dongmin as if she was about to ask him whether he needed help but Dongmin kept his eyes on the ground.

The moment they disappeared around the corner, Minhyuk felt Dongmin’s eyes on him again.

‘So it’s Jinwoo and Myungjun – and you?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you were never in love?’

‘No.’

‘And you never kissed anyone.’

‘No.’

‘I want to kiss you.’ Dongmin took a step closer and his scent hit Minhyuk like a hammer.

Panicked, he backed away. ‘You are crazy!’

Dongmin blinked in confusion. ‘You were kind to me last time. You could have killed me and you didn’t. And you helped me to find Bin.’

The anger bubbled onto the surface, overriding the thirst.

‘So I’m a charity case now? You think you are so great, being here and offering me my first kiss out of pity? What about your boyfriend? You know you are cheating on him, right? Maybe you haven’t done anything yet - but in your head, you have already cheated.’

Dongmin flinched, his face reddening, and it took Minhyuk all his willpower not to sweep him in his arms and sink his fangs into the warmth of his neck.

‘I wanted to talk to you because, for the last month, I couldn’t stop thinking about you,’ he whispered, eyes boring into Minhyuk’s.

He leaned so close, Minhyuk could hear the faint whisper of the blood in his veins.

His vision blurred. The scent was so overwhelming that tears sprung into his eyes.

‘Are you crying?’ Dongmin frowned in confusion.

‘I’m not crying. It’s just… my eyes are watering because you smell so good.’

He pulled away. ‘You should go; it’s not safe. I can kill you any minute.’

For every step he took back, Dongmin stepped forward, getting dangerously close. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Get out of here before you can.’ His fangs slid out and Dongmin shuddered a little at the sight but didn’t move, didn’t pull away.

‘What’s your name?’

‘If I tell you my name, will you go?’

‘Maybe. Tell me your name.’

‘Why do you want to know? I’m a monster; I don’t deserve a name.’

‘You didn’t kill me when you could have. And you saved Bin. And you didn’t want anything in exchange for it. You could have bitten me; you could have raped me - you didn’t do any of it. You might not be human but you are a good person.’

‘I’m not good at all. Go away.’

‘I want to know your name.’

‘Minhyuk. I’m Minhyuk,’ he sobbed out. ‘Go now.’

‘Minhyuk.’ Dongmin watched him, unblinking, the name soft on his lips. ‘I’m glad you told me. It makes you… more of a person, I guess. I mean you are. You were like me once. It was sad to watch you looking so lonely last month. You don’t deserve to feel like that. Can I kiss you?’

Oh, how he ached to say yes. The answer was screaming inside his skull but he didn’t trust himself. Not like this, with fangs ran out, thirst overwhelming his brain and groin throbbing painfully.

‘No, you can't. Not tonight.’

‘Why? One kiss. I want to know how it feels like. I have a friend, he says that being with a vampire is like the best feeling in the world. I know you wouldn’t hurt me; you are good.’

To know that for Dongmin it was only curiosity didn’t even hurt. He was too far gone to be humiliated by that.

‘I can’t, not now. I would hurt you tonight.’

‘Why?’

‘I haven’t fed in a month.’ The admission only fuelled the thirst that was already scratching dangerously at the back of his throat. He suddenly felt it with such intensity he had to steady himself with a hand against the wall.

Dongmin watched him, focused and wide-eyed, as if Minhyuk were the prey, not the other way round.

‘You could feed from me.’

Minhyuk’s head spun. ‘Do you have any idea what you’re saying?’

‘Sanha says it feels so good,’ Dongmin whispered. ‘It hurts really bad at the beginning but only for a moment.’

‘Jesus, Dongmin, you have no idea. I… I need to go.’

‘I want one kiss.’

‘Don’t!’

He grabbed his arms and Dongmin yelped in pain.

‘Stop it! Just go! You have been looking into my eyes for too long - it’s the charm talking. You are not yourself right now!’

‘I was myself when I was thinking about you every night for the last month, ‘Dongmin struggled to stand straight, looking almost drunk. ‘I only want one kiss.’

‘Have you not heard what I said? Not tonight! I’m too hungry. If I touched you now it wouldn’t end with one kiss. I would hurt you. I would probably really hurt you.’

‘What if I didn’t mind? To get hurt a bit?’ Dongmin’s whisper sounded brathless.

‘Are you crazy?’ Minhyuk pushed him away so hard, Dongmin fell on the ground. ‘Don’t! You have no idea what you’re saying!’

The spell broken, Dongmin stared at him, gasping. ‘I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done this! I… I don’t know why I said that… Oh my god!’

Minhyuk watched him shaking and swallowed a bitter lump in his throat. Of course Dongmin hadn’t been serious. It had been the charmed prey’s reaction, nothing else.

‘It’s fine,’ he turned away coldly. ‘Go home.’

‘Wait!’ Dongmin scrambled to stand up, his legs still a little unsteady. The hand that gripped Minhyuk’s sleeve was trembling.

‘I’m sorry about tempting you when it’s so hard for you tonight. I will go now, I swear. But one day - if you want – I would like to kiss you.’

The silence was laden with so much it made the air feel heavy.

Minhyuk turned around. Dongmin’s eyes were clear now, the starstruck, glazed look gone. The fingers gripping his hoodie were still there though, not letting go.

‘I don’t want to look you in the eye now,’ Dongmin quickly averted his gaze, ‘but I mean it. You are a good person Minhyuk. I think I would have liked you if we met… before.’

‘Ok.’ The words were out before he could get a grip on himself and shut up.

His lack of judgement was pathetic but Minhyuk couldn’t help it. Even if he was only a weird kink for Dongmin, a bout of curiosity that had to be sated – he didn’t care.

‘Ok. I’ll be here tomorrow night. Same time. Can you… Can you come?’

The thumping of Dongmin’s heart sped up. ‘I’ll…. I’ll be here.’

……………………………

He picked a random stranger that night, hurriedly, not even bothering to follow a scent he liked, and gorged himself nearly sick.

At home, nothing really mattered, not the shower he would usually enjoy after a hunt, not the calm in the old ballroom where he sometimes practiced archery if he felt too high to go to sleep after feeding.

The covers on his bed were inviting and he curled under the heavy duvet, feeling satisfied and almost sloshy. The blinds were drawn and the darkness of his bedroom was soft, lulling him to sleep.

Tomorrow he’ll see Dongmin.

……………………….

‘You came.’

Dongmin swallowed, his eyes darting away from Minhyuk for a moment. ‘Yes, I did.’

Minhyuk didn’t waste time. He stepped closer and scooped Dongmin up, as if he was a little doll. ‘Hold on tight.’

Dongmin’s arms around his neck nearly cost him his sanity but the run up a staircase onto the roof of a deserted warehouse was mercifully short. He set Dongmin down, carefully keeping him at arm’s length.

‘Sorry. I just thought this would be safer than in the middle of the street.’

Dongmin remembered the woman from the day before, her horrified look, and nodded mutely.

Minhyuk watched him cautiously. Looked for signs of fear, for any indication that Dongmin changed his mind.

‘Do you still want to do it?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you not afraid?’

Dongmin ducked his head shyly. ‘A bit. But I know you won’t hurt me.’

Minhyuk wished he could have so much trust in himself.

‘Close your eyes. I don’t want to take any chances. The less you look into my eyes the better.’

Dongmin’s scent, his presence, was everywhere now, filling up all his senses.

He run his hands up Dongmin’s arms and felt the shivers as he wrapped his fingers around Dongmin’s neck. It felt oddly fragile, now that he knew he would be caressing it rather than trying to snap it in a minute.

Dongmin’s lips were warm and moist and pillowy – it felt like nothing he had tasted or felt before. For a moment he stood still, completely overwhelmed, simply touching Dongmin’s parted lips with his own, feeling Dongmin’s every breath in his mouth.

After what Minhyuk thought was only a heartbeat, Dongmin pulled back.

‘How was it?’ Despite them not having done much, Dongmin sounded slightly breathless. He didn’t open his eyes but Minhyuk saw he was smiling. ‘Did you like it?’

‘Yeah?’ His own voice sounded weird – shaky, breathy, off kilter.

Dongmin chuckled - the sweetest rumble, deep at the back of his throat – and kissed him again.

The second time round everything changed. The softness was still there but the kiss was wetter and harder somehow; there was Dongmin’s tongue in Minhyuk’s mouth and Dongmin’s fingers at the nape of Minhyuk’s neck and Minhyuk’s mind went blank, completely devoid of any thoughts – of any thoughts apart from _Dongmin_.

His fangs ran out and he couldn’t help himself but moan when Dongmin flicked at them with his tongue.

It was him who pulled back this time. ‘I think we should… stop.’

‘Why?’

It was difficult to answer when Dongmin’s swollen lips were only a breath away, his look on Minhyuk glazed over, almost as he were in a trance.

‘I… I don’t think I will be able to control myself for much longer. You smell too good. I want to…’ he pulled away, terrified at the intensity of his want.

‘What do you want?’

Dongmin’s body in his hands was so alive, breathing and arching to get closer, he wasn’t even sure he said the words aloud.

‘I want to taste you.’

Fingers frozen on warm skin. Dongmin’s eyes frozen on him.

He could smell the words before Dongmin said them.

‘Do it.’


	5. Chapter 5

In the falling dusk, Dongmin’s face was turning silvery, soft around the edges. Blurring into the grey light around them.

His scent was tugging at Minhyuk, strong and overpowering, unleashing something in him - something primal, a need he never knew was there.

He had to pull back, despite his body roaring at him not to. ‘I want to taste you.’

Hands on Dongmin’s chest, feeling the warmth through the fabric. The redness in his mind.

Dongmin’s whisper, barely there.

‘Do it.’

Diving forward, he nosed at the tempting juncture between Dongmin’s shoulder and his neck. The frenzied heartbeat under his palms sped up.

‘Are you scared?’ he murmured gently into the softness of Dongmin’s skin.

‘I… Maybe. A bit.’

Although trying to sound calm, Dongmin’s panicked breaths gave him away and Minhyuk kissed the wildly pulsing vein in his neck and stepped back.

‘Forget it, alright?’ he rubbed Dongmin’s shoulders gently. ‘I’m not gonna do it if you’re terrified.’

The fact that vampires didn’t need to breathe was coming in handy; he was thanking the providence, his lucky stars and all the gods above that he was able to hold his breath and pretend to be composed.

Dongmin visibly relaxed.

‘I… I don’t know what I want,’ he smiled a little, reddening. ‘I want to… but I’m scared it will hurt and then I’ll scream and somebody will hear…’

The shame about the selfish surge of excitement when he heard Dongmin still wanted him was swiftly stomped away.

‘Oh, I see,’ he continued rubbing Dongmin’s arms as if he wanted to warm him up. ‘If you’re scared about that… I know this will sound wrong but… I could take you home with me.’

A fleeting moment of fear in Dongmin’s eyes before he averted his gaze felt like a bucket of cold water on Minhyuk’s head and he sighed in defeat. ‘Oh god, no, forget it, ok? Forget it.’

Letting his arms drop, he stepped back. ‘Let’s go, I’ll walk you home.’

‘No!’ Dongmin grabbed his sleeve. ‘I still want to try. I just panicked a bit, I guess, when you said…’

‘I know, I know. I’m sorry. Stupid idea. But I thought it would make you feel safe,’ he chuckled to himself bitterly. ‘Also, this is such a dirty place.’

Dongmin followed the sweep of his hand, taking in their surroundings – the flat roof of an old disused warehouse. The dirt and soot, black grime clinging to everything around them.

‘You deserve more than this.’ He took Dongmin’s hand. ‘I swear I was not secretly planning to hurt you. But yeah… I guess inviting you to my vampire den wasn’t exactly going to make you feel safe.’

‘No, it’s ok.’ Dongmin swallowed visibly. ‘Let’s go; I believe you.’

Minhyuk’s heart – dead, unbeating – soared.

‘Thank you,’ he whispered, ‘for trusting me.’

Dongmin smiled shyly. ‘How we gonna…’

Minhyuk suddenly wanted to prolong the time. To stretch their minutes together.

‘We can walk for a bit if you want to. It’s not that far.’

‘Sure.’

They got down the rickety stairwell, Minhyuk leading the way, trying to keep his fangs in check.

Once down, he pulled his hood up. ‘Easier this way. It will get busier around the corner; you don’t need the stares.’

Dongmin nodded. No matter how hard Minhyuk tried to blend in – casual inconspicuous clothes, head down, not meeting anyone’s eyes – there was something in his aura that was slightly off. His face was just the wrong amount of beautiful – one shade of too cold, a tad too terrifying. It alarmed people.

‘What do you do when people stare at you?’

‘I don’t usually walk around during the day?’

‘What do you do then? Do vampires sleep during the day?’

Minhyuk laughed, suddenly feeling lighter. This felt almost normal, like two people on a night out, chatting.

‘Sometimes we do. I mean there is not much else to do. But no, we don’t lie in coffins during the day and all that bullshit. I just mooch around at home. Work mostly. Or read books…’

‘You work?’

‘Well, I do; it would get too boring otherwise. Jinwoo mostly looks after his portfolio. His investments bring in enough money for us all to survive but I like working – it’s fun.’

‘What do you do?’

‘I work from home; programming. A little bit of cyber security, a little bit of hacking,’ he added shamefacedly. ‘It’s not always strictly legal, so I can't elaborate much.’

‘It’s ok,’ Dongmin smiled. ‘As a future lawyer I would advise you not to.’

‘You are a lawyer?’

‘I’m a law student – but I work part-time at a law practice in the city.’

‘Wow. You bring criminals behind bars? I should probably run.’

Dongmin laughed. ‘It’s family law mostly so I’d say you’re pretty safe - unless you are divorced and refuse to pay alimony.’

Minhyuk had no idea what alimony meant but smiled back at Dongmin’s relaxed face. ‘Thank god – I’ve never been married, nor divorced. I guess I’m safe then.’

Dongmin grinned. ‘Yeah, I guess you are safe with me.’

They walked through a busy shopping district, weaving through a steady stream of people laden with shopping bags, office workers hurrying home, high-school kids buying snacks on the street corners and getting in the way.

Minhyuk paced quickly, trying not to linger, not to get too close to people. At some point he took Dongmin’s hand to keep them from being separated and felt glad that Dongmin didn’t pull away.

Mingling with the crowd, noticing that no one was paying them any attention, he forced himself to calm down. This was going to be fine.

Gradually, the streets emptied, widened. The shops gave way to villas with beautiful gardens; the heavy front doors with polished door knockers lit brightly, the lights casting shadows over the manicured front lawns.

They slowed down and Minhyuk clutched Dongmin’s hand more tightly, suddenly buzzy with nerves. He could feel the anticipation building in his gut, rising sharply.

He didn’t want to wait anymore.

‘You know the park around the corner – where I found you back then?’

‘Yeah.’

Dongmin’s voice sounded shaky again, as if the realisation of what was about to happen was finally hitting him full force.

‘I’ll carry you from there. The park is always empty at night; nobody will see us.’

They rounded the corner. Across the road, an ornate gate made out of wrought iron loomed large, the darkness behind it pierced sparsely by the lanterns lining the wide path.

‘Let’s go,’ Minhyuk tugged at Dongmin’s hand and, crossing the road hurriedly, they disappeared under a dense canopy of trees. 

Once inside, half hidden from view by the tall bushes lining the perimeter, Minhyuk reached into his back pocket and took out a blindfold. The strip of silk was scrunched from being stuffed into his pocket for a long time and never being used.

‘What’s that?’ Dongmin’s eyes held onto the scrap of fabric in Minhyuk’s hand.

He crumpled the blindfold in his fist, shaking all of a sudden.

‘Jinwoo says we can’t let anyone know where we live, anyone human, I mean. It’s a rule to protect ourselves. There are way too many people wanting us dead, random vampire hunters doing it for the thrill – but also police. Did you know there is a whole police department dedicated to catching us?’

‘Wow. I had no idea,’ Dongmin breathed out. ‘I mean, many people don’t even know you exist.’

‘Well,’ Minhyuk shrugged. ‘Many do though and they don’t exactly love us. So Jinwoo came up with some rules to keep us safe. One of them is that we need to blindfold anybody we want to bring home with us. Is that ok?’

‘I guess.’

If felt alien, his shaking hands tying the knot at the back of Dongmin’s hand.

‘We all have these every night when we go out hunting. Just in case.’

A pause. ‘I’ve never used mine before.’

He checked one more time the knot was secure but not too tight. ‘Shall we go?’

‘Yeah.’

Barely waiting for Dongmin’s answer, he scooped him in his arms and started running.

The sprint through the park felt like a blur. Approaching the northern boundary, he slowed down a little, adjusting the hold on Dongmin’s body.

‘This is gonna get a little tight.’

He dived into the thicket, cradling Dongmin’s face to his chest, away from sharp branches. Behind the thick elderflower bush was a gap in the fence where one of the railings was missing. He squeezed through the narrow opening, holding Dongmin close.

Outside, the cultivated mix of oaks, elders and rhododendrons gave way to jumble of vegetation left wild for decades. This was an area of the city most people avoided. Minhyuk was glad of that – the fewer residents ventured here, the lesser the danger of their home being exposed for what it was.

He sped up again, the terrain sloping upwards gently, the trees thinning out a little. In the distance he could see the dark outlines of the old villa, set back in a vast, slightly overgrown garden, surrounded by a tall brick wall.

He set Dongmin down. ‘We are nearly there.’

The gate creaked as he pushed it open.

Inside, he lifted Dongmin again. The gravel crunched under his feet as he ran up the wide driveway towards the house, lined on both sides with shrubs and flowerbeds, a small fountain in the middle. The whole place exuded a place of a former beauty, forgotten and waiting in vain for her lover, but still breath-taking in a melancholic, not-quite-there-anymore way.

He managed to open the heavy front door with one hand and slammed it shut behind them.

The hallway with its red and black chequered tiles was empty. His hurried footsteps up the grand staircase echoed in the deserted place.

Once in his room upstairs, he gently lowered Dongmin down.

‘Can I take it off?’ Dongmin touched the blindfold.

‘Not yet.’

A tiny part of him enjoyed the sharp intake of Dongmin’s breath, the way his heartbeat kicked up, but immediately, he felt ashamed for taking pleasure in Dongmin’s fear.

‘Don’t be scared,’ he moved closer, carefully. ‘I just want to ask you if you really want this. And you not looking into my eyes helps, I guess.’

Dongmin let out a shuddery breath. ‘Ah, ok. I… I want it.’

‘Ok.’

Minhyuk reached at the back of Dongmin’s head to untie the blindfold when a hand gripped his trembling fingers.

‘Leave it,’ Dongmin whispered. ‘I sort of like it… not being able to see you.’

The desire tightened Minhyuk’s belly. ‘What do you want to do?’

‘Can I kiss you like this?’

His breath hitched. ‘Yeah.’

Dongmin was already leaning forward when a horrifying thought crossed his mind. He pushed against his chest to stop him.

’Wait. Give me a second.’

He lunged for the door.

Dongmin gasped at the sound of a key turning in the lock.

‘Wh- What are you doing?’

In a flash, Minhyuk was next to him again. ‘Shh. It’s ok.’

Dongmin started shaking, his body shuddering like a leaf in a wind.

‘Please… Don’t be scared.’

The frenzied pulse told him it was too late for reassurances like that but he had to try. ‘Look. I… I need to lock up. Jinwoo and Myungjun might come back and if they smell you… I don’t want you to get hurt if Myungjun… You smell too good.’

Dongmin merely sobbed and his knees almost gave way.

Minhyuk caught him and swiftly untied the blindfold. The panic in Dongmin’s eyes felt like a dagger in his heart. A silver one.

He sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to feel trapped but this was to keep the others out – not to keep you in.’

‘How do I know?’ Dongmin looked like he was hyperventilating.

Minhyuk let his hands go off Dongmin’s waist. ‘I don’t know. You have to trust me. Look, why would I do that?’

‘Nobody knows I’m here. Nobody would look for me.’

‘What about your family?’

He couldn’t bring himself to mention Bin.

‘I… I have no family. My parents got killed in a car accident two years ago. I was an only child. 

They stood a foot apart, the space between them pulsating with tension.

‘I…’

Minhyuk’s shoulders slumped. He unlocked the door and swung it open. ‘Come. I will take you home.’

‘Really?’ Dongmin looked at him in astonishment, his breathing slowing down.

‘Really.’

For an excruciatingly long minute, they stood at the door without moving.

‘Do you want to leave?’ Minhyuk didn’t dare to look Dongmin in the eye.

Didn’t dare to hope.

‘I don’t know what I want.’ Dongmin reached out, tracing the outlines of Minhyuk’s cheekbones with his fingers.

‘You can do whatever you want,’ whispered Minhyuk, eyes fluttering shut. ‘You can go home. Or you can stay and kiss me. Or we just talk.’

_Please stay. Please stay. Please._

‘But you said you wanted…’

‘I did. But not when you’re scared.’

‘I mean, can you promise me not to lock the door?’

‘Yeah,’ Minhyuk gulped a bit uneasily. ‘I promise.’

‘Let’s go back then. We can… we can talk. If you want to.’

Minhyuk shut the door behind them and went over to plop down on a worn sofa sitting in the large bay window. He watched Dongmin looking around him in fascination.

‘I like your room. Have you read all these books?’ Dongmin eyed the bookshelves running from floor to ceiling alongside one entire wall.

‘I have. Not much to do after a while if you have eternity ahead of you.’

Dongmin smiled. ‘Do you do something else apart from being a hacker and a bookworm?’

‘I like archery. I practice in the old ballroom. And sometimes in the garden but only if the weather is shit. Can't risk the sunshine.’

‘There is a ballroom here?’ Dongmin sounded incredulous.

‘Well,’ Minhyuk ducked his head. ‘It’s an old house. We have way too much space but it’s in a nice place, out of people’s way, and Jinwoo has owned it for a long time so it’s his home really. And mine, I guess. I’ve never lived anywhere else. So yeah, that’s why we have a shooting range in the ballroom.’

Dongmin smiled a little. ‘I suppose it makes sense. Shame not to use the space. If no one dances here anymore…’

Minhyuk cleared his throat. ‘I do, actually. I like dancing. Just on my own, for fun…’

‘Wow. So you dance, shoot and read books. And kill people.’

‘I don’t really _like_ killing people but, yes, I guess I kill people.’

‘And you never kissed anyone. Before I kissed you.’

Minhyuk suddenly felt hot all over. ‘Never.’

‘How old are you?’ Dongmin stepped closer, eyeing Minhyuk curling into himself on the sofa.

‘As a vampire or when I got turned?’

‘I guess… both?’

‘I was twenty when Jinwoo turned me; I am two hundred years old now.’

Dongmin sat down next to him, keeping a careful distance. ‘And you never kissed anyone? Before me, I mean.’

‘No.’ Minhyuk kept looking at his hands. ‘My family had a small farm; I had two older brothers, we all worked the land. But the harvests were really bad those last years I was there; people were hungry and ill. My eldest brother had a fiancée and was about to get married when she died of fever. He was heartbroken and swore never to fall in love again. I don’t know if he meant it – the smallpox killed him two years later. My middle brother was what you called simple back then – Mum had to take care of him even when he was a grown man. He was as strong as an ox but inside he was like a small boy. The girls used to make fun of him. I tried to protect him as best as I could. I didn’t have time for love.’

Dongmin inched closer. ‘But was there any girl that you liked?’

‘No,’ he stubbornly kept his eyes cast down, afraid to look up. ‘But there was a boy. I never told him. In those days, it was not safe liking boys.’

He paused for a heartbeat. ‘He looked a little like you.’

Dongmin’s breath caught.

‘I want to kiss you again,’ he climbed into Minhyuk lap. ‘Is that ok?’

On their own volition, his hands slid up Dongmin’s thighs. Gripped his waist. Pulled him down, closer.

‘Yeah.’

Dongmin’s breath was warming his face.

One breath away.

Then none.

As Dongmin’s tongue slid into his mouth, he slid his hands into the pockets of Dongmin’s jeans and brought their bodies together.

He needed this.

Not the air to breathe, not a beating heart. Not even Dongmin’s blood to survive.

Only this.

A different universe where there was nothing between him and Dongmin, no space, words, clothes – he wanted to melt into him, fuse their bodies together and stay like that till the end of his life.

Till the end of his immortal life.

He grabbed the hem of Dongmin’s t-shirt and pulled. Without hesitation, Dongmin lifted his arms, let Minhyuk to pull it over his head.

‘You are so beautiful.’ His own words were coming from the distance, his head almost detached from the rest of his body.

He trailed his lips alongside Dongmin’s neck, the gentlest of touches, sliding down and pressing more kisses under his collarbone.

His fangs slid out and when he pressed them against the soft skin, Dongmin gasped and arched in his arms.

‘Sorry,’ he hastily withdrew, ‘I didn’t want to scare you.’

Dongmin pulled his head back, towards the warmth of his neck. ‘Don’t stop, it feels – oh – it feels good.’

Minhyuk hesitated. He pushed Dongmin away slightly and trailed his fingers over Dongmin’s chest. Watched the immaculate skin, terrified all of a sudden at the prospect of ruining the perfection.

‘You will have a scar if I do it.’

Dongmin’s eyes were drooping – hazy, unfocused. He could barely sit up straight. ‘I… don’t care.’

‘But I do,’ Minhyuk dipped forward to nose at the smooth skin. ‘You really sure? Because I feel like I'm going to destroy something perfect,’ he ran his palms down Dongmin’s shoulders and pulled away from his throat.

With visible effort, Dongmin blinked and trained his gaze on Minhyuk.

‘Then do it somewhere else. Less visible. I don’t care. Just… do it.’

Minhyuk almost blacked out.

‘Ok.’

He hefted Dongmin’s thighs and stood up, grunting a little with the effort. Dongmin’s legs tightened around his waist in an instant as he carried him towards the bed.

Shoes, belt, jeans. He never undressed anyone before and his hands were shaking. The clothes thudded softly as he tossed them on the floor.

The red of Dongmin’s boxers was mocking Minhyuk, the colour screaming cliché and he wondered vaguely whether Dongmin had chosen it on purpose. Whether he had planned it all.

He climbed onto the bed, kneeling between Dongmin’s legs. Bent down and pressed a soft kiss onto his sternum.

His left hand trailed down Dongmin’s side, lower, until he reached the tender skin of the inner thigh.

He stroked it with his thumb. ‘Here?’

‘Yeah, whatever,’ panted Dongmin, eyes still closed. ‘Hurry.’

‘It will hurt more there.’

‘I don’t … I don’t care.’

He slid lower, mouth mapping the concave curve of Dongmin’s stomach, the faint trail of hair snaking from the navel to the waistband of his boxers. Ghosted over the strained red fabric but didn’t linger there.

He spread Dongmin’s legs and buried his face in the sweet juncture of his groin. The reason was slipping away from him now but he needed to get his act together. Moving to the side, he carefully avoided the vein pulsing right under his lips and pressed a kiss into the soft flesh.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered into the soft skin and bit down.

Dongmin screamed.

The blood welled up in his mouth, erasing all his thoughts. He was vaguely aware of Dongmin’s body arching on the bed, but his arms acted on autopilot, pinning him down mercilessly, like two iron gloves.

He swallowed frantically, sucking at the tender skin, hard, desperate gulps, barely listening to Dongmin’s cries that were morphing into groans.

Finally.

His head was floating above his body, detached from the dealings on the bed, the fog encircling it wonderfully crimson.

The feeling was like nothing he had ever experienced before – he knew he wouldn’t last long but delaying pleasure wasn’t his goal. He wanted everything now. He wanted more.

More.

His mouth couldn’t get enough of the sweet freshness – blood was salty, of course, but it was somehow sweet at the same time – and he sucked harder as the flow lessened, Dongmin’s ragged breathing slowing down.

The bedroom grew quieter, the only sound Dongmin’s soft rasps and his thrumming heart.

Dongmin’s heart.

Minhyuk broke in cold sweat.

He stopped swallowing and let go with a painful groan. His whole body was protesting, screaming at him to continue, to finish the job, not to waste a single drop.

He climbed higher, movements panicky, and cupped Dongmin’s face in his hands.

‘Dongmin!

No response.

‘Dongmin! Min!’

The boy was breathing but he didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes.

For a moment, a horrifying image of Jinwoo holding lifeless Chiara in his arms crossed his mind.

‘Fuck, Min, Min! Say something!’

He shook the limp body.

Slowly, Dongmin opened his eyes. His look was cloudy, glazed over, almost as if he was about to faint.

Minhyuk sobbed, relieved. ‘You scared me! I’m so sorry! I got carried away, I shouldn’t have….’

Dongmin smiled sleepily. ‘I like when you call me Min,’ he whispered and closed his eyes again.

He reminded Minhyuk too much of his many victims, fading quietly away after he drained them.

‘Wake up!’ He shook Dongmin’s shoulders in panic but Dongmin didn’t move.

A memory – hazy, almost gone – from his childhood. His mum, leaning over his older brother who cut his hand while chopping wood and lost a lot of blood. He needs to drink and eat to get his strength back, she said.

Food. Drink.

A cold sweat trickled down his spine.

Where on earth will he find food in this house? He scrambled out of bed, leaving Dongmin motionless body behind, and ran out of the bedroom.

On the low table in the living room was an ornamental glass jar filled with dried flowers. The petals scattered on the floor around him as he hastily tipped them out and stormed into the long corridor, running towards the kitchen.

The room was vast and almost empty. Several gleaming copper pans hung from hooks near a big, old-fashioned oven and in the middle of the room was a massive island, its wooden top scrubbed clean. Minhyuk rarely ventured here; the kitchen was beautiful but served no purpose apart from having running water for cleaning Myungjun’s paintbrushes or to house the odd chemistry experiment Jinwoo sometimes liked indulging in.

Right now, Minhyuk regretted not ever pretending this was a real kitchen and having at least some of those overly salty or awfully sweet packets of snacks all humans seemed to love.

He scanned the empty surfaces in blind panic, hoping for some divine intervention that would miraculously deliver food into the room.

It turned out, he didn’t need divine intervention when he had Myungjun and Minhyuk nearly wept with relief.

Right at the end of their sleek marble worktop sat a big bowl full of fruit.

Minhyuk remembered teasing his brother when Myungjun bought it a couple of days ago to ‘make the kitchen look less dead.’

‘I know it will rot away and we have to throw it out - but I like the colours. I want to paint it. The light in the morning is so pretty here.’

Breathing out a silent thank you to his brother, he grabbed the whole bowl before filling the jar with tap water and running back. The water slopped out a little as he sank onto the bed next to Dongmin and shook him awake.

‘Drink it.’

‘What is it?’ Dongmin opened his eyes wearily.

‘Just water, I don’t have anything else here; I’m sorry. And some fruit.’

Dongmin didn’t seem to mind. He gulped down the water and didn’t protest when Minhyuk pushed some grapes between his lips.

He cradled him close, listening to the faint beating of his heart. After a while, when the sound became stronger and Dongmin’s breathing grew less shallow, he reached into the bowl and peeled a banana.

‘Eat.’

Dongmin blinked sleepily but obeyed and Minhyuk eventually stopped shaking as he watched the tiniest hint of pink returning to Dongmin’s cheeks.

‘Do you want more?’

No, it’s… It’s fine. Can I rest for a bit? I’m so… tired.’

‘Of course,’ Minhyuk let go, the guilt eating away at his insides.

Dongmin rolled away from him and curled up under the covers. Within seconds, he was asleep.

Minhyuk carefully lowered himself on the bed next to him, trying not to make the springs creak. Watched Dongmin’s face, the dark brows in stark contrast against the paleness of his skin.

The shadows in the room lengthened, creeping across the wooden floor, measuring the passing of time, and Dongmin slept. 

Minhyuk lay motionless, watching his chest rise and fall, listening to the loud, strong beating of his heart. Thanking his lucky stars that he had been able to stop.

Shaking with guilt that he almost didn’t.

Begging for the time to stand still.

When Dongmin stirred, he nearly jumped out of bed, dreading the prospect of Dongmin’s eyes widening in disgust when seeing him – but Dongmin merely blinked and offered Minhyuk a sleepy smile.

‘What time is it?’

Hesitantly, he smiled back. ‘Not too late; you’ve only slept for an hour.’

‘Why was I so tired?’

Shamefaced, Minhyuk looked away. ‘Because I drank too much.’

He gripped Dongmin’s hands in his. ‘I am so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just got carried aw-‘

‘It felt… good,’ Dongmin whispered, eyes closing. ‘I mean… it hurt like hell at the beginning – but only for a bit… Then it felt… oh, god, it’s hard to explain. It felt really good.’

Minhyuk could hear Dongmin’s heart rate picking up, his breath quickening. ‘I liked it.’

He felt like weeping from relief as he reached over and cupped Dongmin’s cheek. ‘I’m so sorry. I will never, ever do it again.’

‘It’s ok,’ Dongmin smiled weakly and covered Minhyuk’s hand with his. ‘Hmm. Why are you not cold?’

He pulled his hand away, examining it like an exotic creature. ‘Why? Should I be?’

‘I mean… People say…’

‘Oh, you mean like, as cold as marble – and all that?’

‘Well, yeah.’ Dongmin sounded embarrassed.

Minhyuk chuckled. ‘Nah, that’s all bullshit. We sort of emulate the temperature of our surroundings. The way a pen would be at room temperature in here. So yes, if you met me outside in winter, I would feel really cold. Right now I’m sort of… tepid, I guess?’ He gave a shy laugh.

He could feel Dongmin’s breath on his cheek. His eyes on him.

‘What if I did this?’ Dongmin shuffled closer and pulled the blanked over both of them. ‘Would that warm you up?’

The dark cocoon trapped the heat of Dongmin’s body inside. His breath was warming up Minhyuk’s cheeks, sweet and tempting, his eyes on Minhyuk dark with something that was hard to name.

Minhyuk shivered with nerves but didn’t look away.

Was this how it worked, he wondered. The pull – was that the charming of the prey Myungjun told him about?

Something inside him stirred but he forced himself to lie still, not to give in.

‘Are you feeling warmer?’ Dongmin whispered. ‘Let me see.’

He leaned closer and pressed his lip against Minhyuk’s forehead.

‘It’s the best way to measure body temperature. Hands are not so good because they are colder. Hmm, you feel almost… human.’

He landed another kiss on Minhyuk’s cheek; lingered for a moment.

There was no need for him to breathe but Minhyuk exhaled shakily aware of the thirst scratching at the back of his throat again.

But there was also another kind of thirst rearing its head inside him, the kind that had nothing to do with bloodlust.

He turned his head and his lips caught the corner of Dongmin’s mouth.

It was hard to tell who moved first.

By now, the warmth of Dongmin’s lips felt familiar. What was new was the urgency with which Dongmin pinned Minhyuk underneath him. The hunger in his eyes, boring into Minhyuk’s.

‘God, you’re so beautiful,’ Dongmin panted, pupils blown wide, and Minhyuk felt a surge of pleasure shooting up his spine.

Nobody ever told him he was beautiful.

Dongmin’s hands were finding their way under his shirt, his lips were tracing the line of Minhyuk’s jaw, trailing lower.

He jerked as Dongmin sucked as the tender skin of his neck.

It was a sensation he never felt before, half pain, half pleasure. Nobody ever touched him there, let alone kissed – or whatever Dongmin was doing that made him feel almost like passing out.

Dongmin was hard against his thigh and Minhyuk suddenly remembered the night he saw him and Bin for the first time. How Dongmin’s face changed when Bin touched him in the dark alley.

He wanted to do the same. He wanted to be the reason Dongmin would look like that.

He trailed his fingers down, lower and lower, underneath the waistband of Dongmin’s boxers, almost waiting for the slap of Dongmin’s hand – but the slap never came.

When he finally dared to wrap his fingers around Dongmin’s length, he nearly died – an awful analogy perhaps but he found nothing else, no other word that could quite describe how he felt.

Because Minhyuk had touched himself in the emptiness of his bedroom before but this was different. The same in many ways but different in all the important ones.

Dongmin was silky and warm and alive in his hand and Minhyuk watched in awe how his face was transformed with each tug of his fingers.

Why people would close their eyes when they kissed or fucked - the way they did in movies - when he could watch the tiny crease between Dongmin’s brows, making him look as if he was in pain – was a mystery to him.

The lips swollen from Minhyuk’s kisses, the head tipped back – the throat, the beautiful throat that was almost killing Minhyuk – the moans, cutting straight to the bulge in Minhyuk’s pants.

Minhyuk kept his eyes open because he knew his life wouldn’t be measured in years anymore; his life would forever be before and after Dongmin and this was it, this was the Dongmin moment, and he wasn’t sure how much of it would he be allowed to have - so he watched and watched and watched.

Without warning, Dongmin opened his eyes and shoved Minhyuk’s hand aside. ‘Wait.’

He rolled over onto his stomach and groaned into the pillows.

Minhyuk froze.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll… I’ll stop. I’m sorry.’

‘No,’ Dongmin mumbled into the pillow. ‘It’s ok. I just… I don’t want to come just yet.’

He lifted his head, still panting a little, and the look he gave to Minhyuk made his insides shake. ‘Do you want to…’

……………………………..

His hands shook so badly he almost dropped the lube he had found in Jinwoo’s nightstand.

Clutching the bottle in his sweaty hands, he closed the door of his bedroom behind him and turned to face the bed.

Dongmin sat on the bed, propped back on his elbows, watching him.

He looked like those amazingly good-looking underwear models Minhyuk had seen in some of Myungjun’s fashion magazines, only more beautiful.

More naked.

‘Come here.’

The short distance to the bed felt like a walk to the gallows. What if he embarrasses himself? What if he is bad at sex and Dongmin will laugh at him?

‘Come here.’

Dongmin opened his legs, a silent invitation, and Minhyuk shuffled closer, his knees hitting the bed, right between Dongmin’s spread thighs.

‘Stop looking so scared.’

He straightened up and took the lube out of Minhyuk’s hands. Put it down gently and interlocked their fingers.

‘You shouldn’t be afraid. The only one who should be scared tonight is me. I’m gonna be in bed with a vampire.’

Minhyuk huffed. ‘Easy for you to say. I’ve never done it before. What if I’m awful at it? What if you don’t like it? What if I hurt you?’

He kept looking at their intertwined hands, too scared to look into Dongmin’s eyes.

‘Look at me.’

In a strange echo of his own words from a month ago, Dongmin touched his cheek. ‘Minhyuk, please, look at me.’

He did, reluctantly, scared of what he would find in Dongmin’s eyes. Mockery? Something worse perhaps? Was this a payback for their first encounter, was Dongmin going to shove him back and tell him that all of this was a big joke after all and he, Dongmin, would never want him? That Minhyuk was a monster, just a monster to be feared and despised?

The breathless hunger in Dongmin’s eyes – when he finally summoned the courage to look - felt like a searingly hot knife in his gut. In the best possible way.

‘Minhyuk? Do you want this? Do you want me?’

Mutely, he nodded his head.

Dongmin’s breathing quickened. ‘I want you too. I want you so much my whole body hurts.’

With zero warning, he yanked Minhyuk’s hands towards him and they both toppled over on the bed.

Minhyuk laughed out loud. The exhilaration of feeling a body underneath him – living, breathing and willing to be there – was like nothing he’d ever felt before.

‘You feel so good. So alive.’ He ran his palms down Dongmin’s sides, savouring the feel of naked human skin against his fingertips.

‘What do I do? I mean – what do you like?’

‘I’ll show you.’

……………………..

The soft noises pulled him back into reality. Soft rustling of clothes. Soft footsteps on the parquet floor.

He opened his eyes. Dongmin was up, moving silently around the room, picking up his clothes off the floor. His movements were hurried and Minhyuk noticed the tremor of his hands.

‘What are you doing?’

Dongmin froze. Exhaling shakily, he turned and, clutching the bundle of clothes in his hands, he looked at Minhyuk.

His eyes didn’t quite reach Minhyuk’s face.

‘We fell asleep. I… I need to go – now.’

The pallor of his skin was like a lighthouse in the dimness of the room. Like a flaming torch. It scorched Minhyuk’s eyes. It hurt. There were marks marring Dongmin’s perfect body – the fingertip bruises on his hipbones, the hickeys along his collarbones, the bite marks. Minhyuk’s bite marks.

An icy hand tightened on his chest as Dongmin walked towards him and sat on the bed.

The bed creaked under Dongmin’s weight. Minhyuk noticed there was too much space between them.

Dongmin pulled on his jeans, the clink of his belt echoing softly in the dead silence that rang way too loud in Minhyuk’s ears.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Dongmin glanced at the screen and winced. He dropped the phone on the covers.

‘Shit. I’m so sorry I’m rushing you but it’s four o’clock,’ he struggled to pull on his socks, ‘and I really need to leave. Do you think we could go now?’

Breathe.

Minhyuk stared at his hands, lying limply in his lap. The icy weight in his chest got heavier.

‘Do you need to leave? Can't you… stay?’

Dongmin stilled. After a moment, he crouched in front of Minhyuk, his face softening.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered. ‘Last night was amazing.’

Hesitantly, he touched Minhyuk’s hand. ‘You were amazing. It was the best night of my life.’

A drop splattered on the back of Dongmin’s hand. Minhyuk didn’t move, didn’t look up.

‘I will never forget you. But I need to go, Minhyuk.’

‘When can I see you again?’

The moment he said them, he knew they were the wrong words to say.

‘I’m sorry, Minhyuk,’ Dongmin hung his head. This… this can't go on. I… I have my life and you have yours. I… I shouldn’t have done what I did. You wanted to drink - we probably should have done just that.’

He clasped Minhyuk’s hands more tightly. ‘It’s all my fault, Minhyuk. Will you forgive me?’

He disentangled himself from Dongmin’s grip and stood up. ‘It’s ok. I will take you home.’

There was nothing more to say.

……………………………

He dropped Dongmin in front of his house and ignored the way they avoided each other’s eyes.

‘Thank you, Minhyuk.’

The words were pure mockery in Minhyuk’s ears but there was no point saying it out loud.

……..……….………………

The oak welcomed him like an old and trusted friend.

The small light on Bin’s nightstand was lit; the window cracked open. The noises carried softly through the silent darkness.

‘Where have you been?’

Bin looked small, curled up into a tight ball, knees drawn up to his chin. ‘Your phone was switched off. I had no idea where you were. I thought you might be working late but when I finally rang your office, the only one there was your boss. He told me you left at the usual time.’

He sat up, slowly, as if he aged ten years overnight.

‘I’m sorry,’ Dongmin sunk to his knees in front the bed. Buried his face in Bin’s lap. ‘I’m so sorry, Binnie.’

‘Where have you been?’ whispered Bin, his fingers trailing slowly up and down Dongmin’s back. ‘I started ringing hospitals at three in the morning; I thought that maybe you were found somewhere half-dead in the ditch!’

Bin’s voice rose in agitation and outside, Minhyuk burned with shame.

‘I’m fine, Binnie, I’m so sorry that I scared you,’ whispered Dongmin into the fabric of Bin’s sweatpants.

‘Are you in trouble?’ asked Bin quietly and started gently rubbing Dongmin’s back. ‘We can figure it out, just tell me what it is, ok?’

Dongmin hissed as Bin’s palm touched a spot between his shoulder blades.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘No, no, it’s fine…’ Dongmin protested weakly but Bin quickly lifted his t-shirt and froze.

Like a scream in the night, almost in the middle between Dongmin’s shoulders blades was a bite mark, traces of dried blood still smeared on the creamy skin.

Bin’s face went white. ‘I will kill him! It was the sucker, right? What did he do to you, baby, I swear, I will kill him! Tell me where he is and I will kill him!’

Tears started rolling down Dongmin’s face. ‘He didn’t do anything. I let him.’

‘Did he charm you? I swear if I find him, nothing will help him!’

Please say I did, thought Minhyuk desperately. Please. Just lie. Because maybe I did. Please say it.

‘No, he didn’t charm me,’ Dongmin shook his head slowly. ‘I let him. I wanted it.’

Bin looked ready to faint. ‘That’s… that’s not true. Tell me it’s not true.’

‘I’m sorry, Binnie. It didn’t mean anything, it was just… not thinking and…’

‘Don’t touch me,’ Bin prised Dongmin’s hands away from his body and stood up. ‘Don’t you fucking touch me.’

………………………….

Minhyuk stayed hidden, crouching in the tree, watching Dongmin sobbing in the empty room. Watching while dawn seeped its way through the rolling clouds. Letting his tears drip on the tender leaves.

The sun could have him, he didn’t care.


End file.
